Two years ago, Elfyn Evans joined an exclusive club of eight drivers heralding from outside the Nordic nations to have conquered the revered Rally Finland. Last weekend, the Welsh Toyota star proved that was no fluke as he ignited his World Rally Championship title aspirations with a dominant victory to sit alongside Finnish rallying royalty Ari Vatanen and Timo Salonen as two-time winners of the event.
After reigning world champion and points leader Kalle Rovanpera had delivered a Sebastien Loeb-like domination in Rally Estonia a fortnight before the ‘Grand Prix on Gravel’, the script seemed set, and maybe the title race over. Surely Finland’s first world champion for 20 years would end a six-year wait for a home-grown Rally Finland winner and take another step in his WRC title defence… That prospect looked likely after seven stages. But, as history has proved, the high-speed rollercoaster gravel stages are tough to crack and can catch out the best. While Rovanpera reminded everyone that he is human, Evans avoided the pitfalls. A blistering dose of speed and precision, in challenging wet conditions, resulted in his best showing yet in a Rally1 car to win a rally of attrition.
As much as this was a victory for Evans and co-driver Scott Martin, it was redemption for Toyota. The team based in the rally’s host city of Jyvaskyla was beaten in its own backyard by Hyundai 12 months ago when Ott Tanak defeated Rovanpera. As if there wasn’t enough expectation on
