Has Meirion Evans Retired From Rallying? A Podium Finish On The Rallye Du Boulonnais Is His Answer!

By Paul Evans

People were beginning to ask Meirion Evans if he’d retired from competitive driving.

After all, he’s more often seen working as team manager in the family-run Melvyn Evans Motorsport operation nowadays, running cars for the likes of Matt Edwards and Osian Pryce in the British Rally Championship.

Well, that’s sparked Evans back into action.

First, he won the recent Argyll Rally in Scotland, and now he’s finishing third on the Rallye Du Boulonnais.

The 26-year old from Llanwrda in Carmarthenshire is no stranger to rallying in France, having contested the Peugeot 208 Rally Cup there in 2018.

Returning in his The Scan Station-backed Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 was a completely different ball game – requiring him and co-driver Jonathan Jackson to have pinpoint high-speed accuracy right from the word go, even though the late decision to contest the event meant that there was no time for a pre-event test.

 

P3🥉on Rallye Du Boulonnais in France 🇫🇷 Wipers stopped working for a few KM of the 1st stage which cost us a chunk of time but after that it went a bit smoother with 2 fastest times. Good to get a feeling for the car again in all conditions on what was a very challenging rally👊 pic.twitter.com/9ksuc4Tf1z

— Meirion Evans (@TheMeirionEvans) August 22, 2021

In wet and slippery conditions, Evans took his Michelin-shot Polo GTI to a final third place finish – highlighting once again that he hasn’t retired from competition. Not by a long chalk.

“We finished day one in third position overall, twenty seconds off the lead,” explained Evans.

“It was always going to be a steady start, having not driven the car since June, but all in all we’re quite happy with where we were at.

“We got close to a fastest time in stage three, before the rain hit on stage four and we were probably a bit too safe in there.

“The second and final day was a very difficult, with heavy rain in the morning.

“The windscreen wipers stopped working for a few kilometres of the first stage which cost us a chunk of time, but after that it went a bit smoother and we recorded two fastest stage times.

“It was good to get a feeling for the car again in all conditions on what was a very challenging rally.”