Evans Determined to Bounce Back in Croatia!
Remarkably, the 2021 championship runner-up has only four points from Rallye Monte-Carlo's Power Stage to show from the opening two rounds and the Welshman currently trails leader and team mate Kalle Rovanperä by 42 points in 13th place in the standings.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing man was heading for a podium finish in the French Alps before sliding off the road, leaving his GR Yaris perched on the edge of a steep drop. Second was on the cards in Sweden until he slammed into a snowbank on the final morning and retired. "We have to look forward, but we know we can't afford too many mistakes," acknowledged Evans as he prepares to stop the rot at an event he came within an ace of winning in 2021.
"It's not been the start to the year we wanted, not by a long way. We need a strong start in Croatia. It's not an easy rally, we'll do what we can and hope to come away with some good points."
Leading going into the closing Wolf Power Stage 12 months ago, victory evaporated when he made a minor mistake and slid onto the grass at the final corner. The error handed the honours to team-mate Sébastien Ogier by just 0.6sec.
"Last year's Croatia Rally was a good event for us," he said. "There were certain loops when we made some set-up changes which didn't suit us. Hopefully we can learn from that and try to make sure we have a car that's suitable for the conditions and try to have a strong run this time."
Evans has always enjoyed asphalt and admitted he was happy to be back in a Tarmac-trim GR Yaris.
21st April, 2022