He may be the World Rally Championship leader, but Elfyn Evans knew who was top dog last time out at Rally Islas Canarias.
“You have to put your hand up and accept, sometimes, you’re beat,” he said.
Kalle Rovanperä was the one who beat him. But the man who’s now vaulted up to second in the championship is not expecting to replicate that form on the gravel.
Asked how his feeling was on the pre-event test at the halfway mark, Rovanperä’s answer was simple.
“Not so good, to be honest.”
Music to the ears of Evans, who currently enjoys a 43 point advantage over the Finn in the championship race. Right?
Well, not quite.
As it turns out, Rovanperä isn’t the only one approaching next week’s Rally Portugal – and indeed the succeeding Sardinia and Acropolis events – with a degree of trepidation.
But for Evans, his concern is rooted more in the past than the present.
“I think it was definitely the case last year, and maybe even the year before, that these were the most challenging events on my side,” he admitted, “and obviously they now arrive all three in a row.”
Sixth, fourth and 18th were Evans' results on the next three rallies last year
To make matters more complicated, Evans is guaranteed to start at least Portugal and Sardinia as first on the road.
He added: “I’m leading the championship heading into this sequence of events so we know that comes with the privilege of running first on the road which of course, barring weather like this [where it was raining on Evans’ test], it will be a challenge.
“How well you cope with that will shape how the championship looks on the other side of it.”
Evans’ main issue last year was with the balance of his Toyota, but the 2025-spec car is different given its shed the hybrid unit, and will also contact the ground via Hankook tires, not Pirellis.
We’ve already seen how well that’s suited Evans so far this year, so will it be the same story over these next events?
“We definitely hope that the latest change to the car is going to put us in a position where we feel a bit more comfortable,” said Evans. “There were definitely some nice developments towards the end of last year.
There's 12 Rally1 cars in Portugal, which is great to see a more full entry again at a WRC eventElfyn Evans
“Unfortunately we’ve done two tests in Portugal on gravel [one for Safari Rally Kenya, one for Rally Portugal] and they’ve both been very wet and so preparing for dry, loose gravel has been very limited which is, I guess, not ideal. But that’s the way it goes sometimes in rallying, we have to learn to adapt.
“And anyway I’m sure the team will do a great job to prepare with the other drivers in hopefully drier conditions, and we can take something from that. I’m pretty confident that we should at least start with something better than the struggles of last year.”
Evans is aware it’s going to be difficult to score a strong result on all three of the next events, but success for him will be judged relative to what those around him in the championship achieve.
“We really don’t know how things will shape out,” Evans cautioned. “There’s a lot of cars entered for [Portugal], there’s 12 Rally1 cars which is great to see a more full entry again at a WRC event, but we have to wait and see what’s possible.
“Of course we want to do as well as we can but the focus will be to beat those around us really. That’s always your gauge – the guys just running immediately behind you on the road.
“Of course they are in a slightly more favorable position, but we want to try and at least be relative to their performance.”
