Elfyn Evans acknowledged that his pursuit of a first World Rally Championship title is “looking challenging” after exiting Rally Finland without any points.
The Toyota driver has fallen to fourth in the standings, now 36 points behind championship leader Thierry Neuville, following a crash on the second-to-last stage.
Evans was in contention for victory, trailing his teammate Kalle Rovanpera by just eight seconds at the end of Friday.
However, his rally took a turn for the worse when his GR Yaris experienced a driveshaft failure on Saturday morning. Evans received a 2m40s penalty for being 16 minutes late out of the midday service due to a prolonged repair, which left him outside the points by the end of Saturday.
In an effort to salvage the weekend, Evans aimed for Super Sunday points but was caught off guard by a corner on stage 19, resulting in a crash that ended his rally.
“It was a corner we handled reasonably well in the morning [loop]. However, I encountered some understeer in the ruts during the afternoon, and that ultimately caught us out,” Evans explained.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“Looking back, it feels like a bit of a clumsy accident, but there was nothing I could do to recover from it,” he stated.
“We know that corner is tricky, but it was more about how the car reacted in the rut rather than the speed—it’s just one of those things.”
With Evans unable to continue and rally leader Rovanpera also crashing, Neuville cashed in with a robust total of 23 points from the rally.
Although Evans admitted that his ambitions for the title have taken a hit, he remains determined to keep fighting, with four events left in Greece, Chile, Central Europe, and Japan.
“The championship looks tough now, and this weekend has certainly inflicted some damage. In the end, we had to take our shot, but the remainder of the season is still wide open, and we’ll keep pushing until the finish,” Evans stated.
“We understand that things can change rapidly, but with four rounds to go, the likelihood of closing that gap diminishes with each passing event. Nonetheless, we must give our all until the end.”
