Sardinia is a special place for Elfyn Evans, as it’s where he made his World Rally Car debut – taking an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC to a magnificent sixth place finish in 2013. Magnificent because, while he’d done a lot of the car’s development testing, the World Rally Car was a massive step up from the Fiesta R5s and R2s he had been competing in – and Evans instantly proved that he was more than capable of handling the extra power and pressure. A lot has happened to the 29-year old from Dolgellau since then – not least becoming a World Rally winner, thanks to his victory on last year’s Wales Rally GB. And now his 2018 season is on the up too, after Evans finished second last time out on the Rally of Portugal, after a well judged and inch perfect run in the latest Fiesta WRC. Like all FIA World Rally Championship events, Rally Italia Sardegna (7-10 June) has its unique qualities – all of which make it an extremely tricky event. The narrow sandy gravel roads are lined with big rock, so sliding an inch or two off line could spell disaster. And as the WRC reaches its mid-point of the season, European summer temperatures on the Mediterranean island are also likely to be a factor, with high in-car temperatures a challenge for crews and a greater than normal stress on engines and transmissions.

By Paul Evans Elfyn Evans admits that finishing second on the Rally of Portugal has “alleviated the pressure” he felt he was under in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship. The 29-year old Dolgellau driver drove brilliantly to score his best result of the 2018 season – setting two fastest stage times in a consistent […]

By Paul Evans Elfyn Evans has finished a fantastic second on the Rally of Portugal, which is his best result in the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship and his first podium finish since he won last year’s Wales Rally GB. The 29-year old Dolgellau driver started today’s third and final day in second place, 39.8 […]

By Paul Evans Elfyn Evans is on the brink of scoring his best result of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship season, as he starts the third and final day of the Rally of Portugal in second position. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans has driven superbly throughout the event so far – recording two fastest […]

By Paul Evans After a bit of a shaky start to his 2018 FIA World Rally Championship campaign, Elfyn Evans is back to his best on the Rally of Portugal – as he starts today’s longest day of the event in second position. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans set the second fastest time on yesterday’s […]

Last year’s Dayinsure Wales Rally GB winner, Elfyn Evans, has given his backing to the new-look 2018 route – which will use new legislation to suspend the Road Traffic Act for authorised motor sport events, enabling stages to be linked and making the action even more accessible for spectators. Evans did what all professional rally drivers want to do in one magnificent performance last year – win his first World Rally Championship event and win his home round of the series! The 29-year old Dolgellau driver will return this year as team-mate to five time world champion Sébastien Ogier in a works M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC, with his sights firmly set on repeating that victory. Whilst the vast majority of the 208 miles of competition will take place in the forests of north and mid Wales, the event will end with a truly spectacular Tarmac stage around the Great Orme and through the streets of Llandudno – finishing on the Promenade. And it was on these streets where Evans lifted the coveted gold Peall Trophy last year, as winner of Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship.

Elfyn Evans has vowed to “get back on it” when the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe next month, after being mysteriously off the pace on the Rally of Argentina – although the 29-year old driver from Dolgellau did finish sixth in South America and score more valuable WRC points. After coming to within 0.7 seconds of winning the event last year, Evans might have fancied his chances of victory this time around – but despite pushing hard and not putting a foot wrong in his EcoBoost-powered M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC, the stage winning times he was aiming for eluded him. But Evans should not feel despondent – after all, he finished just 1min 07.7secs behind team-mates and defending five time World Rally Champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, who finished fourth in an identical Fiesta WRC, after almost four hours of flat-out competition.

Elfyn Evans has moved up to seventh position at the end of Day 2 of the Rally of Argentina, after a blistering performance through the foggy 25-mile SS11 saw him set the third fastest time and leapfrog two places. Despite struggling for grip in his EcoBoost-powered M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC on the afternoon loop, he and co-driver Daniel Barritt are still the top-placed British crew, sitting just 6.2 seconds behind sixth-placed Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC). “It’s been another tough day to be honest, and we were still struggling in all the clean stages,” said Evans. “We were able to make a difference in the fog – pushing very hard and setting a pretty decent time – but we’re still not where we would like to be and need to find the answer.”

By his own admission, Elfyn Evans had a difficult opening day on the Rally of Argentina. The 29-year old from Dolgellau was hoping that running tenth on the road would give him an advantage on the gravel stages, but that wasn’t the case as he and co-driver Daniel Barritt struggled to find the perfect rhythm through Argentina’s demanding terrain. Second fastest time on SS5 showed what is possible when everything clicks, and having finished day one in ninth position, the M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC driver is determined to climb up the leader board and get back into his stride as the event continues over the weekend.

Elfyn Evans lost out on a maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory in Argentina last year by just 0.7 seconds. He scored his first WRC win on Wales Rally GB later in the season of course, and now the 29-year old from Dolgellau is back in South America and on a mission to kick start his 2018 season in style. Another boost for Evans is that his regular co-driver, Daniel Barritt, is fully fit and back reading the pacenotes in their works M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC – after missing the recent Tour of Corsica whilst still recuperating from their Rally Mexico shunt. Evans hasn’t had the best of starts to the WRC, yet he’s still amassed 18 points from four events and will benefit from starting 10th on the road in Argentina, which is a favourable road position on the loose gravel event. This will also be his fifth appearance on the rally, although this year only three stages have run before, with three completely new stages and modifications to all the others making the 2018 route a slightly different challenge.

A press conference planned to take place in Llandudno tomorrow morning, in which the route of this year’s Wales Rally GB (5‐7 October) was going to be unveiled, has been postponed amid confusion over the event’s innovative final Power Stage plans. We understand the final Power Stage was to include the Great Orme and part of Llandudno town centre. The organisers were hoping that a large crowd would come to Llandudno for what would have been a spectacular final stage and podium ceremony. However, rules state that the Power Stage should ‘be representative of the rally’ – and whilst Wales Rally GB is a gravel forest event, the Great Orme / Llandudno stage would be all-Tarmac.

Elfyn Evans and Phil Mills have triumphed in the face of adversity at the Tour de Corse – finishing one of the most technical Tarmac rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship in a flying fifth position. The Welsh pairing teamed up at short notice to give Evans’ regular co-driver, Daniel Barritt, more time to recuperate from their Rally Mexico accident. In stepped 54-year old Mills, the 2003 world champion, who hadn’t contested a WRC event for eight years, but who knows Evans’ pacenote system well. The new pairing had just six runs through shakedown to perfect their relationship inside the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Fiesta WRC, but soon found a comfortable rhythm with which to challenge for a strong result.