Elfyn Evans goes into today’s final leg of the Tour de Corse with his eyes firmly set on fifth place, after another strong day with new co-driver Phil Mills in the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Fiesta WRC. The 29-year driver from Dolgellau is just 3.1 seconds behind Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai) and has been getting quicker as he and Mills develop that special driver/co-driver relationship – setting an event best fifth fastest on the final stage of day two, SS10. “We didn’t have the best of mornings, and I felt as though I was a bit too hesitant in places,” said Evans. “It wasn’t anything major, but it soon adds up. We made some improvements in the afternoon and I was feeling a lot more comfortable in the car. The relationship with Phil has gelled quite a lot better today too and we’ve seen some promising times which bodes well for tomorrow.”

Ford World Rally Team boss Malcolm Wilson has praised new Welsh rally duo Elfyn Evans and Phil Mills on a “remarkable job” after finishing day one of the Tour de Corse in sixth place – despite very little time to prepare for the event together. With Evans’ regular co-driver Daniel Barritt still recuperating from their high-speed Rally Mexico shunt, Mills was drafted into the team as super rally sub. He’s long since hung up his race suit and crash helmet – in fact, today was the first competitive WRC stage the 2003 World Champion had contested in anger for eight years. And it’s one of the toughest events for a driver and co-driver partnership too, as the rollercoaster Tarmac twister is also known as ‘The Rally of 10,000 Corners’. Yet with virtually no time to prepare, the 54-year old Newtown-based co-driver was immediately into his stride – calling every corner with split-second accuracy and guiding Evans to a remarkable sixth position. And full credit to Evans too, for adapting to the situation and driving the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC with speed and precision.

Phil Mills, the 2003 World Rally Champion Co-driver, will come out of retirement to co-drive for Elfyn Evans on next weekend’s Tour of Corsica (5-8 April). With Evans’ regular co-driver Daniel Barritt needing more time to recover from the sixth-gear roll the pair suffered at the previous FIA World Rally Championship round in Mexico, the 29-year old Dolgellau driver was left searching for a replacement. Mills is massively experienced, having guided Petter Solberg to 13 WRC victories and the 2003 world title. The 54-year old’s last WRC event was in 2010, but he has kept very much involved in rallying – running his own very successful historic rally car preparations firm, Viking Motorsport, from its base in Newtown. More importantly, Mills has also been helping Evans behind the scenes as part of his WRC gravel crew for the past five years, and thus knows his fellow Welshman’s pacenote system inside out.

The organisers of Wales Rally GB have promised to take “full advantage” of the new closed road legislation, which came into force in Wales earlier this year, to create an exciting new-look route for this year’s event (4-7 October), with a shift of focus to the forests and venues of north Wales. A change in the law, which allows local authorities to suspend the Road Traffic Act for authorised motorsport events without requiring individual Acts of Parliament, came into force in Wales on 2 February this year. This won’t see long stretches of the A470 closed for rally cars to blast along, but it will see small sections of B roads closed, possibly joining forest stages such as Penmachno South and Penmachno North, and Dyfi and Gartheiniog, to make longer and more challenging speed tests. “Wales has some of the best driving roads in Europe and this initiative will provide the perfect platform to showcase the very best of the Welsh countryside,” said the 2017 Wales Rally GB winner Elfyn Evans at the time of the closed road announcement. “With the success of events like Wales Rally GB, Welsh motorsport is very much on the up and this will only encourage even more visitors to our region.”

Elfyn Evans has been forced to withdraw from Rally Mexico, after his co-driver, Daniel Barritt, was taken to hospital with suspected concussion, following their sixth gear high-speed roll on stage four. It’s a bitterly disappointing blow for the 29-year old works Ford driver, who, by his own admission, has had a bad start to the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship. A puncture on both the Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies saw Evans finish sixth and 14th respectively, and he was aiming to kick start his 2018 campaign with a good result in Mexico – a gravel event he’s always gone well on.

Elfyn Evans’ hopes of winning Rally Mexico have suffered a major setback, after he rolled his works M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC on stage four. The 29-year old Dolgellau ace had started round three of the FIA World Rally Championship well – and had just set the second fastest time on SS3 (the El Chocolate stage which, at 19.5 miles, is the longest of the rally). That put Evans up to third place overall, a mere 15.2 seconds behind rally leader, Spaniard Dani Sordo (Hyundai). Sadly, Evans lost over two minutes on the following stage, after a high-speed accident.

Elfyn Evans is looking to kick-start his 2018 FIA World Rally Championship season in Mexico this weekend – and having twice finished fourth (2014 and 2015) there, the 29-year old Dolgellau driver will be looking to better that and challenge for a top-three podium result.

By his own very high standards, finishing 10th on an event that he was hoping to challenge for victory on isn’t going to take pride of place on Elfyn Evans’ list of career highlights.

Elfyn Evans admits that there are “very few positives to take” after another difficult day at Rally Sweden, during which he’s uncharacteristically struggled to set even top 10 stage times. Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, the 29-year Dolgellau driver has lacked the confidence in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC’s grip that is so essential for setting top times over the snow and ice-covered forest stages – although there is no questioning his determination and never-give-up spirit.

Elfyn Evans has promised to ‘come out fighting’ after tough day at Rally Sweden, which has witnessed the 29-year Dolgellau M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver slip and slide outside the top 10. Evans ended a difficult day in 11th position – and the fact that he’s ahead of his M-Sport Ford team-mate and defending world champion Sébastien Ogier won’t come as much consolation either, as he’s 2min 41.3secs behind the rally leader.

In recent years, unseasonably warm weather has seen a lack of snow on the World Rally Championship’s only snow rally – but not this year, as months of wintry weather and freezing temperatures have paved the way for a classic Rally Sweden (16-18 February) – with high snow banks and a thick layer of ice setting the scene for another thrilling encounter.

International Motor Sports Ltd (IMS), organiser and promoter of Britain’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is delighted that new laws facilitating closed-road motor sport events have today (2 February 2018) come into force in Wales. The new regulations follow a long campaign by the UK governing body of four wheeled motor sport, the Motor Sports Association (MSA), and allows IMS to explore a range of new opportunities for this year’s Dayinsure Wales Rally GB route (4-7 October).