Evans cautious on repeat success bid
Wales Rally GB winner Elfyn Evans says only a monsoon in Australia will be enough for him to clinch the first back-to-back World Rally Championship success for a Brit since 2002.
Evans is well aware that the DMACK tyres which helped him take his maiden WRC win in Wales last month could well handicap him if the Australian summer delivers its usual hot, dry conditions.
“We had to make a choice for the last three rounds of the championship,” said Evans, “and I don’t think it was any secret that we targeted Rally GB with the soft tyre. Rally Australia could be about gathering more data from the tyre, getting through it and doing the best job we can. I’d expect the performance level to be reasonably similar to Spain, so in certain areas we won’t me a million miles away.”
Asked what he thought about his chances of landing back-to-back wins, Evans replied: “It might make it easier if there was a monsoon in the area. As we saw in Wales, our tyre works so well in those wet or damp and slippery conditions.”
A long-range forecast for the Coffs Harbour area does indicate showers and thunderstorms in the area during the event, but temperatures in the high 20s would likely be enough to dry roads out quickly.