Last weekend, the stars of the World Rally Championship competed in the gruelling Acropolis Rally in Greece. But there was no time for rest, as all teams have been carrying out tests this week in Finland and Estonia.
Hyundai and M-Sport drivers have been testing on Finland’s fast gravel roads, while Toyota’s drivers have been fine-tuning setups in Estonia in preparation for the next WRC round.
Kalle Rovanperä kicked off Toyota’s test programme in southern Estonia on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it was Elfyn Evans’s turn to jump behind the wheel of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car.
Championship leader Evans has faced some struggles in recent rallies due to his role as road opener, and he generally doesn’t favour the slower gravel rallies. In Estonia and Finland, however, the Welsh star should be much more in his element.
And indeed, Evans was flying on the gravel roads during his test day, pushing hard while fine-tuning the car for the coming rally.
Watch the video of Evans’s test below:
If the embed doesn’t appear above, you can watch the video here.
Evans began his season strongly, claiming two wins, a second place and a third from the first four rallies. The rounds in Portugal, Sardinia and Greece proved more difficult, but he still managed to score a decent haul of points.
Evans holds a nine-point lead in the championship over Toyota’s part-time driver Sébastien Ogier, who will skip the rally in Estonia. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who took victory in Greece, is 12 points behind the Welshman.
See the full WRC championship standings here!
Rally Estonia will take place from 17–20 July. Evans will once again be first on the road for Friday’s stages, but this time he shouldn’t suffer as much from sweeping duties.
