WRC Rally Greece
Evans striving to refind driving enjoyment after WRC Acropolis setback
The Toyota driver’s WRC title hopes suffered a significant blow in Greece
Tom Howard
Published: Sep 10, 2024, 9:04 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Elfyn Evans says he needs to "get back to normal ways" and "enjoy" being behind the wheel after an Acropolis Rally that severely dented his World Rally Championship title aspirations.
The Toyota driver headed to Greece hoping to re-ignite his championship hopes after a driveshaft failure, followed by a crash on Sunday in Finland, left the Welshman with a zero-points score.
However, Evans could only salvage eight points from last week's Acropolis Rally following a continuation of misfortune. The two-time WRC title runner-up suffered a puncture on the opening stage followed by a turbo failure that left Evans almost 10 minutes adrift.
A slow speed roll after clipping a rut on Saturday afternoon prompted an early retirement before finishing third in both the Super Sunday classification and the Power Stage.
With three rounds remaining, the title is still mathematically possible, with Evans sitting 52 points behind championship leader and Acropolis winner Thierry Neuville.
"We had some moments that were not bad but on the whole, it was a pretty poor weekend," said Evans.
"Obviously, we still need to try our best to finish the season on a high to be ready for next year, but also to do our best for the team.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
"There was no issue with the car [on Sunday]. The car was actually feeling quite good. I think it was a bit of motivation and the trend of how things have been going and I'm just sort of happy to be at the end in a sense and try and get back to normal ways in the next rounds.
"We need to get back to normal ways and finish with a good rhythm and a good feeling again, and get back to enjoying being behind the wheel a bit because honestly the last rally and half has been difficult."
Evans initially thought that the puncture on the opening stage was his fault for hitting a compression but upon reviewing the data it appears that once again bad luck struck.
"The puncture actually came from a stone in the line when we checked the videos. I don't know what you can do about that," he added.
"Of course, at the time I was ready to put my hands top as we knew there was compression and it was a coincidence that after we hit the puncture alarm came on. The reason I had such an impact in this place was because the tyre was so soft."
Watch: EKO Acropolis Rally Greece Sunday Highlights
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article New WRC points proposals under review for 2025
Next article New WRC hybrid unit measures could raise costs for teams
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tom Howard
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
WRC
WRC
Josh McErlean to test 2027-spec M-Sport WRC car at ERC finale
Jon Armstrong announces WRC co-driver split for 2027
WRC
WRC
Jon Armstrong announces WRC co-driver split for 2027
Latest news
MotoGP's Australian GP delayed due to bad weather
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
14 min
MotoGP's Australian GP delayed due to bad weather
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
29 min
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
31 min
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe