Oct 2 (Reuters) - World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans trailed his rivals but kept on course for the title after the first full day of the decisive season-ending Italian round in Sardinia on Friday.
Hyundai's Thierry Neuville grabbed the overnight lead on the day's closing seventh stage, the 2004 world champion a mere 00.4 clear of teammate Adrien Fourmaux who had been ahead since the third stage.
Toyota's Oliver Solberg was the fastest of the title contenders in third place, 12.3 off the lead, with teammate and rival Sami Pajari fourth and 37.4 behind Neuville.
Evans, who had the disadvantage of being first on the island's rough gravel roads in his Toyota, was sixth and a minute and 08.9 seconds off the lead.
"I think overall today we did pretty much what we could have done. It's still two more days to go, and I hope we are ready for the fight,” said Pajari.
There are 35 points to be won this weekend, the final round of the championship after Saudi Arabia was cancelled, and Welshman Evans is 17 clear of Finland's Pajari and 21 ahead of Sweden's Solberg.
All three title contenders would be first-time champions if they prevail.
Solberg won Thursday's opening stage and was also fastest on Friday's fourth stage, 0.8 seconds quicker than Toyota's reigning champion Sebastien Ogier, who is out of contention for the title but was running fifth in Sardinia.
As things stand, Evans would be champion -- after finishing runner-up five times in the last six seasons -- but there are plenty of pitfalls ahead before the rally ends on Sunday.
Apart from Solberg's two stage wins, the two Hyundai drivers were fastest on all the others with Neuville taking three. Saturday has six more stages before the final four on Sunday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in LondonEditing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)
