There’s a personal record Elfyn Evans is in danger of losing this year: a victory streak.
Not wins in a row, nor total wins in a season, but since he joined Toyota in 2020 Evans has always won at least one event during the course of the year.
But with only two rounds remaining, that run is increasingly looking likely it will come to an end.
Evans has come close to winning on a few occasions this year, but every time he’s been in a position where you think it might be possible he will break his 2022 duck, Kalle Rovanperä had stepped forward and ruined it.
Naturally, going a whole year without winning a rally won’t do Evans any favors when it comes to his reputation, but despite the pressure that ultimately builds from outside expectations, he’s refusing to head into the final two rallies acting like he has a point to prove.
“[I’m] not breaking my back to win but I come to every rally to win, that’s the bottom line,” Evans said to DirtFish.
“The pressure is no different to normal. I always come and give my best regardless of the circumstances.
“I want to perform the best for myself and for the team.
“Yeah, that won’t change.”
Regardless of whether Evans wins or not this season though, questions will always be asked about why Rovanperä could win so many rallies and Evans not so many.
Evans is no slouch. He wouldn’t have given his team-mate and eight-time World Rally Championship winner Sebastien Ogier such a close battle for the 2020 and 2021 titles otherwise, but in the new Rally1 era, it’s Evans’ younger team-mate that’s immediately been more successful.
One suggestion put forward was that Rovanperä’s lack of experience with multiple WRC cars could have allowed him to adapt faster to the car, but Evans doesn’t think it’s quite that simple.
“I don’t know if it’s fully that to be honest,” he said.
“I think to a point we have slightly different styles, especially on gravel.
“So with that comes different demands from the car.
“Everybody has their own style, it’s just what comes natural to you, and sometimes that requires different things from the setup.”
