O&A ELFYN EVANS
Sitting out a second consecutive round with injury, Motorsport News caught up with M-sport’s Elfyn Evans on his recovery, what it’s like to watch from the sidelines and when he’ll be back.
How are you feeling day-to-day, any pain?
“Day-to-day generally I’m pretty pain free now which is great. It doesn’t change things a great deal but it’s nice to know things are moving in the right direction. Everything is generally feeling pretty good and positive. I’m just waiting to be ready to go.”
Can you do any specific training to help your back, or is everything aimed at resting?
“Obviously I’m quite restricted to what I can’t do. To be honest I’m really lucky that Red Bull UK have guided me towards Harris and Ross in Manchester, I’m with them once or twice every week. They have given me some exercises I can do, and are making sure
I don’t do too much. Which is easy to do, especially when the pain is less it’s very easy to start doing the wrong things. They’re still looking after me, I’m in good hands.”
We’re guessing it must be quite difficult to be here, watching from the sidelines? “It’s frustrating as hell to be honest. When you get the news, it’s bad. But when it came to [watching] Rally Finland, it was properly painful. It’s been a bit of a shame here as well. It makes it a long and boring weekend to be honest!”
You are included in the Rally Turkey line-up, is that still the aim?
“We’re aiming for it. We’re in the hands of the specialist still. We’re working as hard as we can, so let’s see what happens.”
There must be extra motivation to make sure you’re back for GB, if Turkey isn’t possible?
“I don’t want to miss any, but GB, especially with the talk that it goes away to Northern Ireland or what have you, it’s your home rally, you want to be there for it.”
Is there any worry that you won’t make it back at all this season?
“I don’t think so. I’m fairly positive that it’s all moving in the right direction. With the care and everything I’m getting, it should be fairly soon.”
Is Germany an event you enjoy, is it a hard one to miss?
“Yeah, really enjoy, especially Friday and Sunday. The vineyard stages are some of my favourite stages on the calendar to be honest. Finland as well, with these cars, probably one of the best events on the calendar if not the ultimate thrill. From a pure driver’s point of view for sure it’s been disappointing.”
I know how much you love being out on your bike, still allowed to do that?
“I can’t ride outside, it’s just a danger for me. If a fox or something like that jumps out in front of you or something else happens, it is a risk. But I’m on the bike on the trainer in the garage which is fairly grim but at least you can break a sweat and keep the cobwebs away.”