Evans Ready For Swedish Test After Impressing In Monte Carlo

Elfyn Evans returns to World Rally Championship action on Saturday looking to maintain his stunning display in the season opener.

The Dolgellau-born flier won three of the special stages in Monte Carlo last month to finish sixth on his return to the championship.

Evans will test his DMACK Ford Fiesta car in Sweden on Saturday ahead of next week’s second round in Scandinavia.

The 28-year-old said: “We had a successful event last year winning WRC 2 and made a confident start to this season with a strong performance on Monte.

“Sweden is never an easy rally but I enjoy the high-speed stages and the challenge this unique event delivers.

“We will be giving it our all once again.”

Rally Sweden is the championship’s only full winter rally and is a seriously specialist event.

It provides one of the toughest tests of the season for tyre manufacturers and drivers.

Snow and ice-covered roads demand a very special tyre, with numerous technical variables all contributing to the end performance.

To cope with the frozen forests, DMACK has designed a completely new directional winter tyre.

The DMG-ICE2 features a new tread pattern and upgraded studding technology – all optimised for enhanced stud retention.

A new ultra-stiff compound and improved construction have been introduced to deliver extremely high stud rigidity and greater precision on the flat-out stages.

Each tyre is equipped with 384 metal pins which protrude 7mm to bite into the frozen surfaces and provide impressive grip.

But warmer temperatures can increase exposed gravel on many stages, especially on second pass, which rips studs from the tyres and forces drivers to cleverly manage tyre allocations.

Rally Sweden has moved further north to Torsby, close to the border with Norway, but the traditional start at Karlstad on Thursday evening is retained.

Friday’s action takes crews into Norway and the event finishes back in Torsby on Sunday afternoon.

Dick Cormack, DMACK managing director, said: “Sweden is always a difficult event, with conditions changing every year – forcing tyre manufacturers to continually evolve products.

“Our new directional tyre offers improved performance on ice, however, testing opportunities have been limited. This year will be an even greater challenge with the new high-powered 2017 cars.”

Event Information
Based: Torsby, Sweden
Start: Karlstad, on Thursday 9 February
Finish: Torsby, on Sunday 12 January
Stages: 17 stages, 331.74km
Longest stage: SS9/12 Knon, 31.60km