Метка: Elfyn Evans

Neuville, Evans tied for WRC Croatia lead «something special»

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Hyundai’s Neuville and Toyota driver Evans incredibly clocked identical overall times to sit tied for the lead on Friday night after 119.74 competitive stage kilometres.

Neuville claimed three of the four morning stages on the way to opening up a 10.1-second lead over Evans until a puncture on stage six cost the Belgian valuable time.

Evans moved into a 1.6s lead before Neuville responded on the final test to match Evans at the top of the leaderboard.

While the top two couldn’t be separated on times, only 6.6s covered the top three following Sebastien Ogier’s stunning victory on stage eight.

The hard-fought battle has arrived while the championship’s future is firmly in the spotlight as discussions continue among the teams and the FIA to resolve next year’s Rally1 technical regulations.

The FIA wishes to remove hybrid power and decrease the performance of the cars through a reduction in aero and the air restrictor, although these proposed changes have been strongly opposed by the teams.

Asked about the battle for the rally victory, Latvala told Autosport: “It is exciting. In the morning it was looking like it was going to be a tough day for us because Thierry was so strong on the first stage, and I thought our chances were not going to be so great.

“But the drivers improved over the day and eventually having exactly the same time with Thierry and Elfyn is something special.”

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

Hyundai’s WRC programme manager Christian Loriaux added: “It shows the World Rally Championship is exciting and it is close, and it is worth existing, that is for sure. It [Thierry and Elfyn sharing the lead] is quite amazing.”

Evans is among a group of drivers keen for the current Rally1 regulations to remain in place next year and believes the close battle is proof the technical formula works.

“It is good. We know that the technical formula has worked for many years now and the cars and the battles are always close — like I’ve always said, that side works,” Evans told Autosport.

Reflecting on his own performance across the eight stages, Evans felt he left some time on the table, particularly in the final stage, but ultimately was satisfied with his Friday showing.

“There were quite a few things [we could have done better], but overall, it was still quite a good day,” he said.

“I was disappointed with the last stage as I think there was time left in there.

“I think the third stage I was a bit too careful in a few places, but you have to try and find that balance in those conditions to get to the end and go quickly.”

Although the pacesetter for much of Friday, assisted by a road position advantage, Neuville admitted that he had “to give everything” to recover the lost ground after the puncture, and tame his i20 N.

“I mean it was definitely a good fight out there,” said Neuville. “We had to give everything in every stage.

“We are in the lead equal with Elfyn but we lost important seconds this afternoon with our puncture and I was just generally struggling a bit with the balance of the car.

“It got a bit better toward the end of the day, but the last stage was massive dust, so there was lots of cleaning and there was not much more we could have done.”

The rally continues on Saturday although rain showers are expected to add to the challenge for the crews.

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Costly WRC Safari Rally punctures a “mystery”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Evans started Saturday sitting in second trailing leader Kalle Rovanpera by 56.9s but ended the morning loop in fifth [+3m34.2s] after picking up punctures in stage eight [Soysambu] and 10 [Sleeping Warrior].

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Evans picked up a left-rear failure in the day’s opening test before losing the right rear in the famous Sleeping Warrior test. The Welshman admitted he was perplexed by the tyre issues and was unable to pinpoint how they had occurred.

“I was driving as well as possible. It is such a long way to go you can’t think about too much and you just have to do the best rhythm and drive to the notes you made on the recce. The two punctures are a mystery, not ideal,” said Evans.

“The first one is a complete mystery, I at least know the area of the second one but I don’t know how and why.

“We have to keep going as you never know what can happen, so we have to continue to drive well.”

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Evans wasn’t the only driver to suffer punctures as team-mate Takamoto Katsuta picked up front- and rear-right failures in stage 10. The Japanese driver ceded 1m24.6s, which dropped him to third behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, having briefly inherited second after Evans’ first puncture.

“It was not clear where the rocks are in the cuts and they are very hidden, so you don’t know where they are,” said Katsuta.

“I hit something and got a puncture but there was nothing on the recce so I was very surprised, but this can happen. It was very unfortunate, but you need luck here.”

At the front, Rovanpera driving the third Toyota, managed to skip through the stages with all his tyres intact, benefitting from what he declared was a “steady” pace in the stages.

“It was a good morning from us and quite a steady pace in the first two ones, and I would say clever driving, and then on Sleeping Warrior we tried to have a good pace, but it was a bit muddy and tough,” said Rovanpera, who opened up a 1m27.9s rally lead over Neuville.

“There was lot of cutting and I was not taking a lot of risk in the cuts, I would say it was quite a steady pace from us and everything worked quite well.

“I felt I was driving quite fast when the conditions were good and then when it wasn’t I still took quite good care of the tyres and the car, and it worked out well.”



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WRC technical overhaul for 2025 “makes no sense”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Last month, the world motorsport governing body released a raft of proposals designed to improve top-level rallying that included widespread changes to technical and sporting regulations.

The proposals, which the FIA wishes to ratify in June, include changes to the Rally1 class that will be implemented next year, two years before the end of the agreed homologation cycle. Hybrid power is set to be removed from the cars, which will also undergo a reduction in performance and aerodynamics to bring them closer into line with Rally2 cars.

In addition to this, an upgrade kit, priced at around €5,000, will be made available to Rally2 cars to create a “Rally2 Plus” car capable of competing with the top class. This will form part of a transitional period until new Rally1 regulations – based on the current car but capped at €400,000 – are introduced in 2026, forming the basis of the top class for 2027 onwards.

The technical changes for next year have so far been met negatively by WRC teams while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has strongly opposed the call.   

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Speaking to media about the changes for the first time at Safari Rally Kenya, two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera said the changes to the cars for 2025 made “no sense”.

“For sure, it [the cars] will be less [pleasure to drive] than now. There are some good things about the new ideas, but there is also the car thing [changes] which makes no sense for me, to make a big hassle for two years and use more money to make two classes that will never be fully equal or connected.

“Yes, I understand they [the FIA] want more cars on the same main class on the start list but that is it. They should focus now to make the new rules for 2027 and then maybe hopefully we will see new teams coming.”

Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Asked if stability in the regulations was needed, he added: “Exactly, that [stability] has been the issue. So far there has been no real plan for the future, so no new teams come. If you reduce the costs and make the cars whatever you want, but make it for two years after – but this transition phase I don’t really understand.”

It appears the majority of the Rally1 drivers share the same view. Rovanpera’s Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans also believes the focus should be on 2027. 

“Personally, I think we should stay as we are and focus on doing a proper job for 2027,” he said. “I think there is a big job to do to fix this and I think, ultimately there is a commitment for the next years anyway, we should forget about what is happening in the next two years and make a proper plan for 2027.”

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak suggested that the decision to make changes for next year was “working against” manufacturers.

“It doesn’t matter what the drivers say, it is more about keeping the manufacturers happy,” he said.

“We have only limited manufacturers at the moment and even with the situation of where we are at the moment, we are working against the manufacturers that are sticking to the sport, which is a bit strange behaviour.”  

Watch: Safari Rally Kenya Shakedown highlights



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