Elfyn Evans has started this weekend’s Rally Germany by setting equal sixth fastest time over the Shakedown stage and successfully completing the opening St Wendel superspecial test in his Ford Fiesta WRC. Co-driven by Dan Barritt, this is an important FIA World Championship event for the Dolgellau driver, as he aims to improve on his current eighth place in the drivers’ standings. He completed the opening stage tonight tied on time with Citroën driver Mads Østberg, 3.2 seconds behind leader Ott Tänak (Toyota).

There is no doubting his exceptional speed and ability, but Elfyn Evans knows that he needs to pull a good result out of the bag on this weekend’s Rally Germany. The 29-year old recorded his maiden World Rally Championship stage win in Germany in 2014 and went on to finish fourth overall, so history suggests that a rewarding weekend could be on the horizon. But with only one WRC podium finish to shout about so far in 2018, Evans is currently eighth in the drivers’ standings. It’s not where he wants to be, and whilst throwing caution to the wind is never a good idea in rallying, an immediate change of fortune would be extremely timely.

Elfyn Evans finished a trouble-free seventh on Rally Finland today, as the second half of the FIA World Rally Championship began with one of the fastest rounds of the series. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, it wasn’t the result the 29-year old Dolgellau driver was hoping for, although he consistently matched team-mate Sébastien Ogier on stage times, despite Evans not having the aero update on his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC that the five-time World Champion had. Evans was inch perfect throughout the high-speed rollercoaster event, which is his favourite rally outside his home Wales Rally GB.

Elfyn Evans continued his clean and tidy run on Rally Finland today, finishing a long Leg 2 in eighth place overall. He’s only 10.3 seconds behind team-mate Sébastien Ogier, but with the five-time World Champion again battling for the title, Evans knows that M-Sport team orders are likely to see that he stays behind his French stable-mate. Ogier is currently one place ahead in seventh, while Finland’s Teemu Suninen, driving the other works Ford Fiesta WRC, is sixth. Estonian crew Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja continue to lead Rally Finland in their Toyota Yaris WRC.

Elfyn Evans completed Friday’s fast and furious Rally Finland stages in seventh place, after a good day in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, the 29-year old driver from Dolgellau is just over a minute behind leaders Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota) after a clean run through the smooth gravel stages. And don’t forget that Evans was in seventh position at this time last year, before going on to claim a fantastic second place.

Rally Finland blasted off with an opening stage around the streets of Jyväskylä tonight, with Elfyn Evans crossing the finishing line in ninth position and predicting that a he’s in for a “decent weekend.” Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, the 29-year old from Dolgellau completed the stage in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC just 2.6 seconds behind leader Ott Tanak (Toyota) after the short spectator-friendly test. With three full days of action ahead, the rally properly gets underway tomorrow, with nine stages over the very fast and rollercoaster roads of central Finland.

After a six-week summer break, Elfyn Evans is revved up and ready for the start of the second half of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship at this weekend’s Rally Finland. The event is famous for its super-fast and smooth gravel roads that contain massive high-speed jumps, which send cars flying for 40 metres or more. It’s no surprise that Finland is Evans’ favourite rally outside his home Wales Rally GB, and the 29-year old M-Sport team driver from Dolgellau has done well there in the past, finishing an impressive second last year. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans will be hoping that the second half of the series will be better than a somewhat frustrating first, in which his speed in his EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC has only truly been rewarded once, with second place in Portugal. If he can get through Friday’s opening day without a puncture or mishap, you get the feeling another very good result could be on the cards.

Elfyn Evans will be one of the big stars at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, as a motorsport ‘who’s who’ gather at Lord March’s country estate for the biggest automotive garden party in the world. Ahead of the Pimm’s and petrol-fueled weekend, Evans spent a couple of days last week tearing around Goodwood in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC to create a special video for Red Bull. Picture the scene – the 29-year old professional rally driver from Dolgellau is stuck in a traffic jam near Goodwood and is running late for the forest stage start. Undeterred, Evans jumps into his 2018-spec rally machine and, guided by co-driver Dan Barritt, powers his way around, and occasionally straight through, hazards and obstacles in an attempt to arrive on time!

Elfyn Evans set the fifth fastest time on the closing Power Stage to score a consolation point on the Rally Italia Sardegna, in another what could have been round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the 29-year old driver. The Dolgellau ace was fourth after the opening stage on Thursday night, but was forced to stop and replace a broken steering arm on his M-Sport run Ford Fiesta WRC on the first stage on Friday morning. He and co-driver Daniel Barritt lost 13 minutes and dropped to 43rd, as all hopes of victory disappeared. Evans began an impressive fight back that, despite running first on the road on Saturday, saw him finish the day in 14th position. It was impossible to make further progress up the leaderboard on the short final Sunday route, leaving Evans to set the fifth fastest time on the Power Stage to score a bonus point and show what could have been.

Elfyn Evans impressively fought back from 43rd to finish 14th on the Rally Italia Sardegna in his M-Sport run Ford Fiesta WRC. You might have thought that the 13 minutes lost by replacing a broken steering arm mid-stage yesterday had been enough of a penalty, but the 29-year old Dolgellau driver then had to run first on the road today – a hazardous position on the worst of the loose gravel, with a battle back up the leaderboard on your hands. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans did all that was asked of him on the last day of the event – gaining experience of the new Sardinia stages and bringing the car home to the finish.

Having lost 13 minutes replacing a broken steering arm this morning, Elfyn Evans has been left in the unenviable position of pushing hard to salvage as many FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturer points as he can for Ford, in the knowledge that there is no chance of him achieving what he really arrived in Sardinia to do – and that’s win the Rally Italia Sardegna. Evans clipped a bank and broke the steering arm on his M-Sport built Fiesta WRC on today’s very wet and slippery opening stage. He was carrying a spare, and his car mechanic skills saw him replace the offending item in just 13 minutes. An extraordinary fast time to make such repairs, but a lifetime in the cut and thrust, timed to the tenth of a second, world of rallying. The delay dropped him and co-driver Daniel Barritt from fourth to 43rd. But by the end of day one, Evans had climbed back and was just outside the top 20 – with his sights set on trying to gain points in the close race for the Manufacturers’ title.

Elfyn Evans’ hopes of winning this weekend’s Rally Italia Sardegna look over, after the 29-year old was forced to stop and replace a broken steering arm in today’s opening stage. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans had been a flying fourth after last night’s short stage around an old motocross track, but it all went wrong during this morning’s wet and muddy opening test. Luckily the M-Sport crew carry a spare steering arm in their Ford Fiesta WRC and Evans used all his engineering skills to replace the part in super quick time. He’s still very much in the rally and there is a long way to go until the finish on Sunday afternoon, but he completed SS2 having lost 13 minutes. “We couldn’t get the car stopped for a right-hander,” said Evans. “I just got it sideways and touched the bank, which broke the steering arm. We had one in the car and got it fixed, but lost a lot of time.”