Motorsport News

SPANISH STRUGGLES COULD BE JUST THE TICKET FOR JAPAN-BOUND EVANS

Brit hoping to profit from time spent experiment­ing with set-up and driving style in Salou

- By Graham Lister

Another off-form outing in the World Rally Championsh­ip in Spain last month could be just the catalyst Elfyn Evans needs to avoid going winless in 2022.

The Welshman, who was runnerup in the title chase in 2020 and 2021, can finish no higher than fourth this season after a year of toil for the factory Toyota team – even if he wins the all-Tarmac Rally Japan from November 10-13.

Co-driven by Cumbrian Scott Martin, Evans placed sixth in

Spain having failed to finish in

Greece and New Zealand.

His runner-up spot in Portugal in May was his first podium of four in total for Evans this campaign, such has been his dearth of strong results in the first year of the Rally1 hybrid era.

Although he didn’t go into specifics, Evans reflected on his Spanish outing by suggesting it could help his cause in Japan: “It was not the best for myself and Scott, we struggled for the most part with our outright pace so there’s some things to work on for the future. We’ve investigat­ed some things over the weekend, playing with the set-up and with [the] driving style to try and improve. Hopefully we have taken some steps in the right direction and we have some more ideas on where to work on before we go to Japan.”

Evans completed the recce for the

Rally Japan candidate event in 2019. The tight and twisty mountainou­s stages, which his former co-driver Daniel Barritt once told Motorsport News are similar in character to the roads found on Tour de Corse, are expected to suit the 33-year-old Evans, particular­ly after he led in Corsica in 2019.

The Toyota GR Yaris driver is seeded fourth for the opening leg in Japan. He’s one of 10 Rally1 car runners entered for the season closer.

 ?? Photos: mcklein-imagedatab­se.com, Red Bull Content Pool ?? Evans aims for a new driving style
Toyota man will look to pounce
Photos: mcklein-imagedatab­se.com, Red Bull Content Pool Evans aims for a new driving style Toyota man will look to pounce

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