Elfyn Evans finished fourth on day one of Italy’s ACI Rally Monza yesterday afternoon as he bids to be crowned the first Welshman to win the World Rally Championship.

Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Sébastien Ogier snatched an early lead with a narrow victory in the opening speed test.

The Frenchman, bidding for a seventh FIA World Rally Championship crown, was fastest in the tricky and technical 4.33km Sottozero The Monza Legacy in a Toyota Yaris by 0.5sec from Thierry Neuville.

The four drivers fighting for the title filled the top four places. Reigning champion Ott Tänak was 1.5sec behind Hyundai i20 team-mate Neuville, with championship favourite Elfyn Evans fourth, a further 0.7sec back in another Yaris.

Evans, 31, from Dolgellau said: “It was a difficult start on the first run in shakedown this morning:

“I got caught out with the level of grip and picked up a bit of damage.

“But the team got that fixed and after that we worked through some different tyre options and settings and I think we found some small improvements.

“In the first stage this afternoon maybe I was a bit careful, but overall it all went quite OK and I believe we can be competitive over the weekend.

“It will be difficult again tomorrow: With all these stages around the circuit, the biggest thing is going from asphalt onto gravel onto mud, and also the asphalt itself is changing in grip quite a lot, so it’s all about reading that grip.”

The rally continues today with a full day of Monza action. Two morning passes through Scorpion (13.43km) are followed by a double run over Cinturato (16.22km). The leg closes with PZero Grand Prix (10.31km) in darkness, taking the day’s tally to 69.61km.