Regardless of what happens in Spain next week, Elfyn Evans will lead the World Rally Championship after Rally Islas Canarias. But it’ll be the summer before his title rivals really show themselves, according to Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala.
Absent from Evans’ Kenyan victory last month – his third win from four starts – Latvala admitted he was impressed by the championship leader’s relaxed approach to 2025.
The Welshman has established a 36-point advantage after the third of 14 WRC rounds this year. Even if he scores nothing next time out in Gran Canaria, he’ll still head home with a single-point lead at minimum.
Naturally, nobody in Toyota is thinking about that. Certainly not Latvala.
“Keeping this rhythm is important for Elfyn right now,” Latvala told DirtFish. “He’s looking confident and relaxed, more relaxed than any other season before. If he can keep doing what he’s doing through the spring events and keep pulling the lead out, then later in the year he can ease off and focus, let’s say, on the second or third places.
“These spring events are always vital for the championship, to make a good base for the season. It’s always after this, when you come to the summer, then you can really see who is fighting for the title and how this is shaping [up]. This is what I learned when I was a driver.”
Evans’ strong finish to last year aboard a hybrid Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 is evidence that his 2025 pace is not born out of the technical regulation change which stripped the battery power out of the cars.
“Winning in Japan last year was a great end to the season,” said Latvala, “and that pace has carried on this year. From what we can see, it seems Elfyn is comfortable with the [Hankook] tires and the car without hybrid. It’s suiting him.
“But it’s more than that. When I was with him for the first two rounds in Monte Carlo and Sweden he was really positive. He was coming from the test and he was happy. The tests he’s done have worked for him.
“If you’re not satisfied with the pre-event test, you go into the rally not completely satisfied and not so happy and you’re straight away looking to adjust the set-up. There wasn’t anything like that for Elfyn and Scott [Martin, co-driver]. They were immediately confident after the tests.”
