Evans WRC win would ‘put rallying back on map’

One of the few previous British world-success stories in the sport predicts Elfyn Evans to finally capture his first World Rally Championship (WRC) title this week, a victory that would “put rallying back on the map.”

Going into the brand-new Rally Saudi Arabia (25-29 November), a 14-race calendar, fourth-place finisher Sebastien Ogier leads by three points.

Only the third British WRC champion after Richard Burns and Colin McRae of Scotland in 1995 and Richard Burns of England in 2001, will the 36-year-old Welshman who can fend off the challenge of his Toyota team-mate.

“Rallying has been slowed down a little bit because there aren’t really many people to vent their opinions,” said Nicky Grist, a former McRae co-driver who also co-starred with Juha Kankkunen for the Finn’s fourth WRC title in 1993.

Although Evans and co-driver Scott Martin have led the 2025 season, many people believe that Ogier, who is eight-time champion, is the favorite to win his first title in four years after switching to a part-time schedule.

The Frenchman, 41, has won six of his past ten rallies and missed three of them this year.

Evans, a fellow Yaris driver, won rounds two and three when Ogier wasn’t there, but his consistency and occasionally cautious attitude have kept him in the championship for the majority of the season.

However, Evans may need to alter his mindset in order to finally receive the prize that is the ultimate prize.

Grist reaffirms his convictions, “most definitely.”

You can’t be conservative in a sport, and rallying presents all the dangers that lurk along the side of the road, Elfyn claims. However, from his point of view, he can’t think too much about it.

Other than Ogier and Evans, the Jeddah-based final event will feature them competing for the title. The Finn could still claim his own dramatic third-world title if he were to win it on a third Toyota driver, Kalle Rovanpera, who is 24 points behind the Welshman.

How exactly do WRC points work?

Each rally has a maximum haul of 35 pounds for any driver. The leader earns 25 points after the first three days of a rally, which is typically held on Saturday but is held on Friday in this one because the Saudi event is taking place a day before the usual schedule. Only 17 of the top 10 recipients, with only 15 for third place and less for the top 10’s remaining points.

The fastest drivers throughout all the final-day stages and the concluding “Power Stage” will receive two sets of bonus points, five, four, three, two, and one.

If they come into a point tie, Evans can afford to lose to Ogier, who would take the title on rally victories.

According to motorsport journalist Mark James, “It’s pretty much winner take all.”

Dolgellau-born Evans, like many rally drivers, has ancestry.

According to James, “Elfyn’s one of those characters in rallying who came to it because of his dad.”

There are similarities between the McRae family and his father, Gwyndaf, who was a British champion. British champion Jimmy McRae, son of British champion Colin McRae, and brother of British champion Alistair McRae.

Elfyn started competing in a tractor, winning a few small championships, becoming a British champion, progressing to the top of the world stage, and earning a scholarship with M-Sport because his family had a history of rallying.

He moved to Toyota and has since earned the title of “he worked with them for a year learning how to develop cars,” according to the article. “I think this really stood him in good stead for understanding how a rally car works and what you can do to it.

Evans joined Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2020 after winning his first WRC race with the Japanese team in 2017. He clinched the title by winning his first championship there in 2017.

Team-mate Ogier took the title in the championship championship championship match that was set to occur in the final round at Monza.

He would finish second behind Rovanpera in 2023 and Thierry Neuville, a Belgian driver, one year later, after finishing second to the Frenchman.

He says, “You’ve got young drivers kind of snapping at his heels, he’s not getting any younger,” James exclaims.

Oliver Solberg, who won in Estonia this year, is coming up. Next year, he’ll drive for the same team. Elfyn must be thinking, “When am I going to do it if I don’t do it this year?”

Ogier is unquestionably the greatest rally driver of all time.

He won his first WRC title in 2013 at the Gap region of Hautes-Alpes, which he was born in. He would surpass Sebastien Loeb’s record of nine world titles if he won the championship this year.

All told, Ogier has won 66 rallies, most recently winning with co-driver Vincent Landais at Rally Japan earlier this month.

He is a remarkable and intelligent driver who thrives on gravel, which is a plus for him this weekend.

Rovanpera was already a world champion at the age of 22 in contrast to Ogier, who started out relatively late in his career at age 23.

The Finn broke the previous record held by Britain’s McCrae, who had previously won the WRC twice, and won back-to-back titles in 2022.

Rovanpera, 25, announced he would stop rallying at the end of this season to pursue a career in circuit racing after competing part-time in 2024.

Not as much as the drivers and teams desired.

Since this is a brand-new event, they must compete against competitors who have no prior WRC experience.

Although there are many gravel roads lined with rocks, Evans may struggle to succeed as championship leader. At earlier rallies in Portugal, Sardinia, and Greece, he found it difficult to sweep away the loose gravel ahead of other drivers.

According to journalist James, “there are events in the Middle East and there is a Middle East rally championship, so some of the drivers may have competed there in the past.”

They will obviously have a chance to recce the stages where they write their pace notes so they can determine what kind of stages they’ll be on because it’s a bit of the unknown.