Evans Back To His Best In Portugal

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 opening stage, putting him in second place overall, a mere 1.5 seconds behind the leader. A spin on SS3 and a lack of grip on SS4 didn’t cost a lot of time, but so close was the battle for the lead that it dropped the 29-year old Dolgellau driver down to eighth.

But as the stages got more and more treacherous over the second pass, Evans made his move. Finding the perfect balance between speed and risk in his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta WRC, an intelligent drive and clever tyre choice delivered a series of consistently competitive stage times. Regaining his second position, Evans finished the opening day just 17.7 seconds behind leaders Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC).

“It’s good to be in this position at the end of the day,” said Evans. “I felt that our driving was pretty good on the whole, but there are still some things we can improve and we’ll be working on that tomorrow. We’ve just got to keep going and fight for the best result possible.”

“We’ve been waiting for Elfyn to get his season started, and it’s great to see him in such a strong position at the end of the day,” said M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson. “We’re starting to see the same Elfyn Evans that we saw last year and it’s a good confidence boost for him and the team.”

Rally of Portugal – top 10 positions after day one

1. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 1:37:30.7
2. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +17.7
3. Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +24.3
4. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +34.4
5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +45.8
6. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen DS3 WRC) +48.3
7. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) +1:18.7
8. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen DS3 WRC) +2:27.3
9. Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry (Ford Fiesta R5) +6:57.1
10. Lukasz Pieniazek / Przemyslaw Mazur (Skoda Fabia R5) +7:31.9