Evans stays in control at Rally Japan

Britain's Elfyn Evans maintained a commanding lead at the season-ending Rally Japan on Saturday as conditions settled down following the previous day's wild weather.

Evans leads an all-Toyota top three heading into the final day, 1min 15.0sec ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Ogier and 1:40.6 in front of newly crowned world champion Kalle Rovanpera.

The roads in central Aichi Prefecture were easier to drive on than the treacherous conditions which caused three drivers to crash out the previous day.

But changing weather and slippy leaves still posed a problem throughout the day's eight stages.

"We thought we had seen the worst but the weather always amazes us here," said Ogier.

"We had a message before the start that it should be dry but the wind is so strong that it is changing so quickly."

Belgium's Thierry Neuville, Spain's Dani Sordo and France's Adrien Fourmaux all retired the previous day after crashes, although Neuville was back in action on Saturday.

Evans began the day with a lead of almost two minutes and the Welshman was taking no chances with a careful drive.

"It's been pretty OK," he said after stage 15.

"Getting caught in the rain in the previous one was not nice and we were maybe too careful in some places, but it was always going to be a bit tricky to judge with such a big gap."

Rovanpera had already wrapped up his second straight world title at the Central European rally last month.

The Finn said there was "nothing really to fight for" with such a big gap separating him from the lead.

"When we are in this position, we need to make sure that we get to the finish in the best way possible," he said.