Evans relaxed about his prospects in a Yaris
In the aftermath of Hyundai announcing Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak have signed long-term deals to stay put (see story below),
MN spoke to Jari-Matti Latvala about Toyota’s plans and what the future holds for Elfyn Evans.
Hyundai’s move leaves Evans as the only WRC A-lister – aside from Sebastien Ogier – currently without a confirmed ride for next season.
Latvala acknowledged that the introduction of the Rally1 rules and the ongoing testing of the new-for-2022 Yaris makes it even more important for the Welshman to remain onboard.
“The experience [Elfyn] has done and the steps he has been able to take is really positive,” Latvala told MN. “In the previous [Croatia] rally he was fighting for the victory with Sebastien. The way he is going forward, the way he was already last year close to being the champion [means I want to keep him] absolutely,.
“You [also] want to have a driver who is doing the development with the hybrid car [who is the] same guy driving the rallies next year.”
With Hyundai effectively full – as well as Neuville and Tanak, teenager Oliver Solberg will still be under contract next year, while Craig Breen and Dani Sordo are regarded as highly dependable members of the squad – a return to M-Sport is Evans’ only other option for next season.
However, the 32-year-old told MN leaving Toyota after two seasons isn’t part of his thinking ahead of back-to-back WRC rounds in Portugal and Sardinia.
“I’m happy where I am, the team has been great, but you never know in this game what might happen,” Evans said. “We’re coming up to back-to-back events so I’m trying to focus on them because there’s so little time between them and we’re trying to do as much preparation as possible. I’m pretty relaxed about next year.
“We have new regulations coming and perhaps it’s more in everyone’s interests to have it sorted a bit earlier than normal. But not a lot of talks have taken place yet. Only when we get down to evaluating everything will I think about it. The logical thing to do is to stay and develop the car with the current team.”