Elfyn Evans has explained his crash on SS11 of Central European Rally – an accident that looks to have cost him any chance of winning the 2023 World Rally Championship.
Evans started round 12 of 13 needing to outscore Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanperä by at least two points to prolong the battle to the season finale in Japan.
Two stages into Saturday’s leg held in Austria and Germany, the Welshman wasn’t on track to do that as he was third with Rovanperä leading out front.
But he all-but wiped out his championship hopes on the final stage on Saturday morning when he ran slightly wide on a right-hander and crashed his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 into a barn.
DirtFish found Evans at the scene of the incident, who explained what happened.
“Just on this new Tarmac surface here it’s a little slippy, but nothing let’s say too out of the ordinary, it’s just locked an inside-front wheel on the way in, pushed us ever so slightly off-line and unfortunately there was really nowhere to go.
“Unfortunately the damage is too much to continue.”
Evans’ Toyota is heavily damaged at the front, but also at the rear-left, owing to the fact he attempted to avoid a straight front-end impact.
“Obviously we tried to rotate the car as much as we can to try and not go in head first, but it’s clearly just pushed itself [in],” Evans explained.
“It was just a case of being caught out.”
