Evans has delivered an impressive start to the year, claiming two wins and one second place from the first three WRC rounds. He has collected a strong 88 championship points and leads the drivers’ standings by 36 points over reigning champion, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
The first three rounds of the season have offered very different conditions. The year began with the always challenging and unpredictable Rally Monte Carlo, followed by the season’s only snow event in Sweden. Kenya’s Safari Rally presented some of the toughest conditions seen in years. Historically, these rallies have not been Hyundai’s strongest events.
Next, the season continues at the end of April with the Rally Islas Canarias, a full asphalt event, before a series of gravel rallies.
Neuville believes Elfyn Evans is far from unbeatable in the upcoming rallies.
“I’m quite optimistic,” he said in an interview with Diario AS.
“Usually we are quite strong on asphalt, in Portugal, Sardinia, and Greece. Hyundai has generally been strong in those rallies, so now there are a lot of good events coming up for us, even though Evans does have a good lead,” Neuville added.
This time last year, the situation was the other way around. Neuville was leading the championship by a clear margin.
“But last year I had a 30-point lead, and when you add things like opening the road on gravel, a lead like that can disappear very quickly,” Neuville reminded.
Neuville also predicted that Evans will face difficulties at some point.
“He has driven really well in the first three rallies – three podiums and two wins – but it’s not going to continue like that for the whole season,” Neuville stated.
