Elfyn Evans says the World Rally Championship title fight is still wide open after a dramatic Saturday in Sardinia left him six points behind Oliver Solberg going into Sunday’s finale. With four stages still to run, the Welsh driver knows the championship can still swing again.
Evans and Scott Martin began the day in sixth place and were dragged into a moving target race as incidents ahead of them kept changing the picture. Thierry Neuville retired on stage 11, which lifted Evans to fifth, before Adrien Fourmaux’s second puncture of the day promoted him to fourth. But Fourmaux reclaimed that place on the final stage of the day, leaving Evans to end Saturday with a slim but important gap to recover.
Evans: still wide open
Evans, who is chasing a first World Rally Championship title after finishing runner-up five times in 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, said the day had been difficult but insisted the job is far from done.
“Today has been a tough day to try and hang in there with Oliver going so fast at the front,” he said. “We have a long way to go; we have a tough day tomorrow. It is still wide open.”
That is the key point for Evans. The six-point gap matters, but Sunday still offers multiple chances to change the standings because bonus points are available across the final four stages.
The title race now turns to strategy
Evans also admitted the approach may need to change before the final day. “Of course now we have to try and change the strategy a bit,” he said. “I don't think it will be straightforward tomorrow.”
That is a fair reading of where the contest stands. Rally Italia Sardegna is no longer just about raw pace at the front; it is also about whether Evans can make the right calls under pressure while Solberg tries to defend the lead in the virtual standings.
For Evans, the margins remain tight enough to keep hope alive. For Solberg, the task is to hold firm over four stages that could still reshape the championship again before the day is done.
