Overnight leader Evans started the day with a 21.6s gap over nine-time Monte Carlo winner Ogier but that reduced to 4.5s at the end of stage eight.
Nine-time Monte Carlo winner Ogier won three of the day’s six stages, held on tricky dry asphalt roads featuring treacherous icy patches.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville matched Ogier in the stage win department as the Belgian enjoyed a strong day, minus a high-speed spin on stage four, to sit third, 16.1s adrift.
Returning Hyundai driver Ott Tanak continued to grow in confidence behind the wheel of the i20 N but ended the day, 1m13.6s behind. The Estonian lost 41.9s to an icy patch that briefly sent him into a ditch.
The top six was completed by M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux (+1m38.0s) and Hyundai’s new recruit Andreas Mikkelsen, who continued to adjust to the i20 N on his Rally1 debut.
M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster held onto seventh while the only other Rally1 driver in the field Takamoto Katsuta continued his recovery from losing five minutes to a spin on the same icy patch that caught out Tanak this morning.
Source: Autosport