Elfyn Evans slides to victory in Rally Sweden

Each issue, we nominate a driver from a recent race who deserves recognition for a job well done. This month we’re with Elfyn Evans as he kicks up a (snow) storm in Rally Sweden

What a start to the new WRC season for Elfyn Evans. Second to Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier on the opening Monte-Carlo Rally in January, then this: victory in the snow of Sweden after a fantastic rally-long duel with another team-mate, Takamoto Katsuta, that resulted in the event’s closest-ever finish.

Just 3.8sec separated the Yaris duo after Evans had briefly lost the lead to the Japanese on the final morning. A stunning drive on the penultimate test and victory on the Power Stage secured Evans his second Rally Sweden win and the 10th of his WRC career, which equals the tally of the late, great Richard Burns.

Evans won the Thursday night opener despite starting first on the road and ended the rally’s longest leg on Friday just 0.6sec ahead of Katsuta who was chasing what would have been his first WRC win. The pair were separated by just 3sec at the end of Saturday, then Katsuta gave Evans a real scare by turning his deficit into a 4.5sec lead after Sunday’s opener. But for the Welshman, experience under pressure made the difference.

“It’s been an amazing weekend,” said Evans. “We led for a lot of the rally but the margins were always tight and it was never really comfortable.

“This morning I got caught napping a bit in the first stage by Taka, who really made me fight for it, and thankfully we managed to turn it around and unlock good pace on the next stage.”

The surprise of the WRC so far has been Kalle Rovanperä’s indifferent form on his full-time return. Fourth on the Monte and just fifth in Sweden has left him 30 points down on emphatic leader Evans, and two behind Ogier who continues to only compete part-time. The Frenchman gave the WRC’s only snow rally a miss.

Last year, Evans missed a golden chance to claim a title as two-time champion Rovanperä throttled back to a part-campaign. Now, against expectations, Evans is showing the Finn the way. “It’s been a very good start to the season for us,” he said, “and we couldn’t really have dreamed of much better.”

Driver briefing notes

Fine finishes from Formula E, NASCAR and enduro

• Oliver Rowland leads in Formula E after the double-header in Jeddah. The Nissan driver lost the win in the first race as DS Penske’s Maximilian Günther pulled a great move into the final chicane. But Rowland dominated the second race. He leads McLaren’s Taylor Barnard by 17 points.

• William Byron, inset, emerged from a smoky wreck on the final lap to score a second successive Daytona 500 win. Cole Custer triggered chaos by tagging
  leader Denny Hamlin, who was chasing a fourth win at the 500. Byron kept his foot in and the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet beat Tyler Reddick’s Toyota to the line by 0.113sec.
• Another major enduro win for BMW’s new M4 GT3. Following glory in the Dubai 24 Hours, WRT conquered the Bathurst 12 Hours. Brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde shared victory with BMW veteran Augusto Farfus.