Elfyn Evans has taken the joint led of the FIA World Rally Championship after winning Rally Croatia at the weekend. But the Welsh driver said that the sporting triumph felt “so insignificant” as he dedicated his win to his friend and fellow WRC driver Craig Breen, who was killed in a pre-event testing accident. It was an extremely emotional end to the event, as Evans and co-driver Scott Martin (who used to navigate for Breen) climbed onto the top step of the podium.

Elfyn Evans has admitted he was frustrated but not down-hearted after his fourth place finish at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. The opening round of the World Rally Championship was won by Evans’ Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier, with a third member of Toyota Gazoo Racing – world champion Kalle Rovanpera – finishing runner-up. Welsh driver Evans had been in second place on Friday but lost more than 40 seconds after a puncture on the fifth stage.

Elfyn Evans insists he can challenge for the World Rally Championship after putting last season’s nightmare campaign behind him. The Welshman will start his claim for a long cherished world title at the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo, which opens the 2023 season on Thursday. Evans was runner-up in 2020 and 2021 but finished fourth in the standings last year and suffered a number of mechanical and strategic problems with the new hybrid cars that were introduced in 2022.

By Paul Evans After 20 stages, 175 stage miles and almost two and a half hours of flat-out competition, just five seconds separated Elfyn Evans from victory on the Ypres Rally. Without a 10 second penalty, incurred for booking into a time control one minute late, it would have been his first FIA World Rally […]

Elfyn Evans had admitted to more feelings of frustration after reflecting on finishing fourth at Rally Finland. Evans had been fighting for victory until he clipped a rock on Saturday’s penultimate stage – the impact with an inside wheel breaking a damper on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid. The 50 seconds that he and co-driver Scott Martin lost limping through the day’s final stage (SS18, Vekkula 2) crushed any hopes that they had of repeating last year’s Rally Finland win.

Elfyn Evans was on scintillating form on Rally Estonia, yet having been uncatchable in the early stages of the event the Dolgellau ace had to settle for second – a result which moves him up to third in the FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ standings. Evans set an electrifying pace by setting the fastest time on all five of Friday’s opening fast gravel stages, establishing a lead of almost 20 seconds. 

Elfyn Evans kicked up clouds the fine dust – or “fesh-fesh” as it’s called in Kenya – to finish second on the Safari Rally and help his Toyota team score a crushing 1-2-3-4 finish on the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Evans had set fastest time on both passes of the Soysambu stage that opened Saturday’s loop to keep himself within 16 seconds of team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, but lost time – and ultimately the chance of victory – on the day’s final two wet and muddy stages because of an issue cleaning the windscreen.

By Paul Evans “Some points are better than none.” It’s a horrible last resort, let’s try to be positive, sporting phrase that’s pulled from the bottom drawer when realistically all hope is lost. Mathematically it’s possible, but realistically it isn’t. You’re relegated. You’re going to be knocked out. Or in Elfyn Evans’ case, you’re sadly […]

Elfyn Evans scored more FIA World Rally Championship points by finishing second on Rally Portugal – his first podium finish of the season – than he had done in the first three rallies of 2022 combined. It’s rocketed him from ninth to fifth in the drivers’ standings. But the result hasn’t exactly got his title challenge back on track.

Once again Elfyn Evans had to dig deep to salvage a points-scoring result – but fifth on the Croatia Rally was not the fuel-injection boost his FIA World Rally Championship title aspirations needs. He has the speed to win rallies. In the Toyota Yaris Rally1, he has the car to win the title.

By Paul Evans Crashing out on the final day of a FIA World Rally Championship event is the one thing drivers dread, for without the option of restarting and at the very least throwing everything at the closing Power Stage it guarantees a zero points outcome. And that’s exactly what Elfyn Evans did at Rally […]

By David Williams Elfyn Evans will need to overcome remote and frozen forests in northern Sweden this weekend if he is to relaunch his World Rally Championship bid. The Welshman will need to deal with an intimidating challenge as the FIA World Rally Championship enters uncharted territory for the second chapter of its new hybrid […]