The Welshman is fighting for the first world championship title of his career – and the opposition could not be more familiar. Ahead of the final three rounds of the season, Sébastien Ogier leads the WRC standings, but Evans trails him by only two points.
The Toyota teammates also battled for the title during the 2020–21 seasons. Evans suffered a bitter defeat in the COVID-shortened 2020 season when he went off the road in the final rally at Monza and lost his chance at the championship. The silver medals must surely be wearing thin for Evans, as he also finished runner-up in the previous two seasons – first to Kalle Rovanperä, then to Thierry Neuville.
Ogier skipped three rallies at the start of the year and enjoyed optimal starting positions in several gravel events during the summer. By contrast, Evans, who led the championship for much of the season, has struggled as the first car on the road in almost all gravel rallies.
This week’s Central European Rally returns to tarmac after a long break, giving both Ogier and Evans ideal starting positions.
““It was good to get back on the podium in both South American rallies after a long run of gravel rounds, and now we’re looking forward to being back on asphalt and to a different challenge in these next events,” Evans says, referring also to the following round in Japan.
“There’s an element of the unknown with conditions that will be very different to the last asphalt event in the Canaries.”
Alongside Ogier and Evans, both Rovanperä and Hyundai’s Ott Tänak still have an outside chance at the title. A thrilling season finale awaits as the quartet must give everything in the unpredictable tarmac rallies and the brand-new round in Saudi Arabia.
“The Central European Rally covers quite a large area so there’s a few variations in surface and character, and the grip levels can be quite mixed,” Evans sums up.
“There’s sections that are out in the open and others that are more narrow under the trees. There can also be muddy places, especially if there’s rain in the build-up to the rally, but we have to wait and see how the stages look this year and give it our best.”
The Central European Rally features a total of 18 special stages covering about 306 kilometres. The action, begins with the shakedown stage on Thursday morning.
