Fourmaux reclaims fourth to keep Evans under pressure in WRC title finale

Adrien Fourmaux regained fourth place on Saturday’s final stage at Rally Italia Sardegna, leaving Elfyn Evans fifth and his pursuit of a first World Rally Championship title unresolved. BBC Sport reported that Oliver Solberg led the season-ending event, while Evans held a six-point advantage over his Toyota team-mate in the virtual championship standings. Those positions remained provisional with Sunday’s running still to come.

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Evans had started Saturday in sixth and climbed two places as the Hyundai drivers ahead of him encountered trouble. Thierry Neuville retired on stage 11, promoting the Welshman to fifth and potentially adding two points to his championship return. Fourmaux then suffered his second puncture of the day, allowing Evans and co-driver Scott Martin to move into fourth.

That improvement briefly increased Evans’ projected championship cushion over Solberg to eight points. Fourmaux’s response changed the picture again: the Frenchman recorded the quickest time on the last stage of the day and recovered fourth. Evans ended Saturday 6.4 seconds behind him, leaving the contest for that position close as the rally approached its decisive day.

Solberg’s advantage at the front stood at 33.6 seconds over eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier. Sami Pajari occupied third and, according to the BBC report, retained an outside opportunity to win the championship. The leading three were followed by Fourmaux and Evans, whose changes of position had altered the provisional title calculations during the afternoon.

Evans said Solberg’s pace had made Saturday difficult and indicated that the late change in the standings would require an adjustment to his strategy. He did not regard the championship as settled. The Welsh driver has finished second in the championship five times in the previous six years, including in each of the past three seasons.

Further down the order, Takamoto Katsuta was sixth, more than three minutes behind Evans. M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong held seventh while struggling with understeer. His team-mate Josh McErlean slipped to eighth after striking a tree.

Four stages remained on Sunday. Separate bonus points were available for the five fastest drivers across Sunday’s stages and for the final Power Stage, with each classification awarding five points down to one. Those additional points meant Saturday’s positions alone could not decide the championship.