Sebastien Ogier's bid to deny Elfyn Evans the world rally championship crown got off to a positive start with the fastest time in Thursday's opening stage at the title decider in Monza.

Welsh driver Evans leads his Toyota teammate by 14 points and only needs to finish fourth or better to deny Ogier a seventh world crown.

Evans came in fourth in the opening stage at the Monza Formula One circuit near Milan with Thierry Neuville and outgoing champion Ott Tanak in second and third behind France's Ogier.

"I've got nothing to lose so I'm going to throw everything at it so as not to have any regrets," Ogier said before the start.

There are 15 stages to come before this seventh and final leg of the coronavirus-disrupted season finishes on Sunday.