With three rounds completed, Toyota has secured as many victories.
One of those wins came courtesy of Sebastien Ogier, who claimed a historic victory at Monte Carlo, while the other two – in Sweden and Kenya – have been taken by Elfyn Evans, who has had a stunning start to the season.
Evans has already accumulated a hefty 88 championship points from the first three events and now leads the drivers’ standings by 36 points ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
Neuville’s season has so far seen its ups and downs, but the Belgian has yet to deliver a truly flawless performance. Evans has set the pace, leaving the others trailing.
Neuville’s feelings about the start of the season are strongly mixed.
“Actually, I was quite happy with my rally in Sweden. In Monte Carlo, I didn’t feel good with the tyres, and I didn’t have confidence,” Neuville said in an interview with AS.
Neuville and Evans competed together last weekend at the Sierra Morena Rally. The event served as a test rally for both drivers ahead of the WRC round in the Canary Islands at the end of April. The pair posted top times throughout the weekend in the national series before withdrawing gentlemanly from the event before the finish.
“Elfyn seems to have adapted to the new tyres very quickly, so I need to improve in order to be able to compete against him on asphalt,” Neuville stated firmly.
However, Neuville still has room for improvement on gravel as well. Evans also beat Hyundai at the Safari Rally in Kenya in March.
“In Kenya, we drove a pretty good rally, even though we had a lot of problems. But the final result was good. I’m really pleased that I made it onto the podium at the Safari Rally for the first time,” Neuville said.
