Elfyn Evans

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Elfyn Evans
Evans in 2017
Born	(1988-12-28) 28 December 1988 (age 32) Dolgellau, Wales
Nationality	British
Parent(s)	Gwyndaf Evans (father)
World Rally Championship record
Active years	2007, 2011, 2013–present
Co-driver	Scott Martin
Teams	M-Sport Toyota
Rallies	102
Championships	0
Rally wins	4
Podiums	16
Stage wins	83
Total points	756
First rally	2007 Wales Rally GB
First win	2017 Wales Rally GB
Last win	2021 Rally Portugal

Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship.

Career[]

The son of former WRC and Ford, SEAT, and MG driver, and 1996 British Rally Championship Champion Gwyndaf Evans, he is sponsored by the family Ford motor dealership in Dolgellau, first established by his great-grandfather in Dinas Mawddwy, renamed to Gwyndaf Evans Motors in 1983.^[1]

Since 2007,^[2] Evans has driven a Group N production-car-class Ford Fiesta in the . In 2007 he competed in Rally GB in Wales.^[3]

In 2010 Evans won the British Junior Rally championship and was the winner of the UK Ford Fiesta Trophy series, also he won the Pirelli Star Driver Shoot-out after two days of tests and assessments at the Sweet Lamb rally complex in his native Wales, with a prize of a fully funded season in a Pirelli-backed Group N Subaru Impreza run by the championship-winning TEG Sport team — a prize worth in excess of £200,000.

Play media

Final Donut; Llandudno, October 2017

In 2012, Evans secured the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Academy title, the R2 title in the British Rally Championship (BRC) and the UK Fiesta Sport Trophy. In addition, he won the end-of-year FST International Shootout. In 2013 he contested a programme of WRC events in a 4WD car - his prize for winning the WRC Academy - and worked at M-Sport, helping to develop rally cars for the WRC and other championships.

His 2013 season began with the first round of the Australian Rally Championship, the National Rally in Canberra, in which he retired early on the first day. He then drove a Fiesta RRC on the WRC Rally of Portugal, retiring with a transmission problem before starting the final day under Rally 2 regulations. To his surprise, he was then asked to compete on the Rally Italy in Sardinia in a Ford Fiesta World Rally Car after Nasser Al-Attiyah was forced to withdraw because of commitments in Qatar. Despite having never competed on the event before, using Nasser's co-driver, competing in a WRC car for the first time and with no pre-event testing, Evans finished sixth.

Evans switched to M-Sport for the 2014 season to drive a Ford Fiesta WRC as the teammate of veteran Mikko Hirvonen. His best results have been fourth at Mexico and Germany. The driver scored two podiums in 2015, finishing 7th in the overall standings.^[4]

M-Sport dropped Evans to the WRC-2 in 2016. Driving a Ford Fiesta R5, he has scored wins at Monte Carlo, Sweden and Tour de Corse. Also with a Fiesta R5, he won the British Rally Championship with five wins in seven races.

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt in their Ford Fiesta WRC for the 2018 Rallye Deutschland

For 2017, Elfyn rejoined the M-Sport World Rally Team to drive the DMACK car. He started the year with sixth in Monte Carlo, setting several fastest stage times, and then repeated the performance in Sweden. After two disappointing rounds in Mexico and Corsica, at round five in Argentina, Evans benefited from misfortune for his rivals to end day one with a minutes lead. On day two, Evans struggled with punctures, a spin and a damaged diffuser, and saw his lead fall to just 11 seconds. On the final stage, it was a straight battle between him and Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville. He pushed early in the stage, but lost several seconds when he hit a bridge. He tried hard to make up the lost time, but in the end he lost his first victory by just 0.7 seconds to Neuville. In Finland, Evans was left to uphold team honors after a crash for teammate Sébastien Ogier and a puncture for Ott Tänak. He dutifully set consistent top three stage times and snatched second place on the last stage from Juho Hänninen, in what many journalists described as the best drive of his career so far. At the penultimate round on his home rally in Wales, Evans took advantage of his DMACK tyres, which were widely suited to the conditions, to take his first WRC win, the first for a Welsh driver, and the first for a British driver on Wales Rally GB since the late Richard Burns in 2000. He would finish the championship in fifth place.

Evans on his way to victory at the 2020 Rally Sweden

Evans would later repeat his success in Wales with a second victory in the 2020 Rally Sweden, where he led the rally despite adverse weather conditions which forced the organisers to abridge the event to just nine stages. This marked his first win in Sweden, his first rally win for Toyota, and the first British driver to win the event.^[5] His victory in Sweden also allowed him to lead the points standings in the WRC driver's championship for the first time in his career.

WRC victories[]

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	73. Dayinsure Wales Rally GB 2017	2017	Daniel Barritt	Ford Fiesta WRC
2	68th Rally Sweden	2020	Scott Martin	Toyota Yaris WRC
3	13. Marmaris Rally of Turkey	2020	Scott Martin	Toyota Yaris WRC
4	54° Rally de Portugal	2021	Scott Martin	Toyota Yaris WRC

Results[]

WRC results[]

* Season still in progress.

WRC Academy Results[]

WRC-2 results[]

ERC results[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elfyn Evans.

• Gwyndaf Evans Motors