The Welsh Toyota driver managed to win both Rally Sweden and Safari Rally Kenya, and also finished third in Rally Islas Canarias.
However, at Rally Portugal a couple of weeks ago, Evans ran into trouble. He only finished sixth in Portugal, struggling with the role of road sweeper and unable to get comfortable with Hankook tyres on gravel.
Evans’ teammate Kalle Rovanperä has spoken all season about his difficulties with the Hankook tyres and how they don’t suit his natural driving style.
But Rovanperä is not alone in his struggles.
“There is a bit of learning to do with the tyre, but in all honesty, I don’t think a lot of the challenges I have are new – they’ve been there for a very long time,” Evans said candidly.
“And I can’t seem to get on top of them. But they can’t seem to offer much with the car to come towards my style either,” Evans continued.
In Portugal, Evans tried to address the problems by slightly adjusting his driving style.
“Just to be a bit more aggressive in the turning phase and try to load things a bit more, but obviously you can do that so much. But where you need to be very precise and accurate, I struggle to do that then,” Evans explained.
The WRC season continues next weekend with Rally Sardinia
“Obviously, we want to be better than here (in Portugal), naturally. We need to try to adapt and find solutions. We have no testing now, so it’s a case of trying to adapt. Obviously, the other drivers are able to manage the feeling with the tyre and the car much better than I am. So we still have to try to find a way to adapt,” Evans outlined.
