WRC2 title up for grabs – without Evans

This will be an agonising week for Elfyn Evans – not only is he missing his home round of the World Rally Championship, but he also has to sit and watch as his rivals look to seize his WRC2 title.

Evans completed his WRC2 season in Corsica earlier this month and holds a 15-point lead over Teemu Suninen, who completes his seventh and final scoring round this week. If Suninen wins WRC2, he’s champion and cannot be beaten. If he’s second, he could still lose his title to either Esapekka Lappi or Jan Kopecky – but either one of the two Skoda factory drivers would have to win in Wales and then go and win the final round of the season in Australia as well.

If Suninen’s third and neither Lappi or Kopecky wins then Evans and Suninen would finish the season on the same number of points. The title would then be decided on countback with the winner being the driver with the most wins. Trouble is, they’ll both have had three wins, a second, a third and a fourth.

In which case the title would then go to Suninen for having a marginally better finishing record in overall terms – both drivers managed an eighth overall, a ninth overall and an 11th overall, but crucially the Finn also took a 10th overall. It’s that which could decide the direction of this year’s WRC2 crown.