The Welshman was never the fastest driver at any point in the event, but he once again delivered a fairly steady performance.
And there was some luck involved too. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who won the rally, had to tackle the Power Stage in the rain – and this eventually lifted Evans up to second place in the rally.
The rain hit Ogier the hardest. The Frenchman won the rally, but he lost many valuable Sunday points. Evans’ feelings about his stroke of fortune were a little mixed. He couldn’t quite say whether he had really been lucky or not.
“Yes and no, because obviously we had a few issues ourselves. That meant we couldn’t really challenge the other guys. We just about managed to stay ahead of Thierry, so it was alright in the end,” Evans commented.
Compared to Ogier, however, Evans was undoubtedly fortunate. He was able to drive the Power Stage on a completely dry road.
“We’ve definitely been lucky compared to Seb. He’s definitely been dealt a tough hand, however you want to put it,” Evans sympathised.
Rally Paraguay produced numerous punctures. One of them ruined Kalle Rovanperä’s rally on Saturday evening. Evans escaped the bigger problems and picked up a decent 22 points. That meant Evans continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship, with Rovanperä now seven points behind.
“Obviously the weekend wasn’t what we wanted, but just being there at the end gave us a result,” Evans reflected gratefully.
