By Paul Evans

It was far from the perfect start to the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship in Monte Carlo for Elfyn Evans, who was forced to stop and change a punctured front Michelin tyre a third of the way through the opening Sisteron stage – cruelly costing the works M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver almost four minutes.

With only one spare left, Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt then had to be careful in the second Bayons-Bréziers stage – but got through that okay.

“We got a puncture about twelve kilometres into the opening stage and we had to stop and change it,” said Evans. “We had a bit of drama on the ice too.

“We only had one spare for the second stage, so I had to be careful and not be aggressive in the cuts. I’m not feeling happy with the throttle either, and had a half spin in here on the throttle. We can resolve it, but it’s not been a great start.”

But with three days of competition to go, and with many of Evans’ rivals also hitting problems, it’s still possible for the 29-year old Dolgellau driver to score a very good result. And whilst victory now seems unlikely, stranger things have happened on the Monte Carlo Rally.

Despite a spin, reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier leads overnight, 17.3 seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen.