In fact, the Welshman last won in the WRC at last year’s Rally Japan. While he claimed a total of three victories last season, this year Evans has fallen short of expectations.
With Kalle Rovanperä competing in only selected WRC events this year, Evans had a great opportunity to fight for the championship. However, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has repeatedly outperformed him.
It is clear that the Toyota driver is determined to achieve a strong result in Japan, ideally a victory. Such an outcome would undoubtedly provide a much-needed boost of confidence and a solid foundation to build on for the 2025 rally season.
“We still have something to fight for in the manufacturers’ championship, and even if it is a difficult task ahead of us, we want to give it our all and give ourselves the best chance,” Evans summarizes.
“To repeat our result from last year will definitely be the aim: it was a pretty difficult event with a lot of rain and a lot of leaves on the road, and conditions could be similar again.”
Evans makes a rather surprising comparison to Rally Japan.
“Even if it’s dry, the roads are more technical and twisty than Corsica, which was famous for the number of corners, so it’s a very demanding and busy event both with the pacenotes and with the steering wheel,” Evans says.
Rally Japan features a total of 21 special stages, covering over 300 kilometres. The event kicks off with a shakedown stage during the night between Wednesday and Thursday CET.
