WRC
Academy
preview:
Rallye de
France
Alsace

Evans is on top of the WRC Academy standings by 35 points after claiming three back-to-back victories. With two rounds remaining, the Welshman believes the outcome of the 2012 title battle is far from settled.

“For me, the championship is still wide open: anything can happen and there are a lot of quick guys in the field,” said the 23-year-old. “We won’t be thinking too much about the championship on the rally itself, it will be just be about doing a good job and getting through the stages.”

Having claimed three podiums this season, Australian Brendan Reeves is second in the standings, 10 points ahead of Briton Alastair Fisher, who claimed his maiden WRC Academy victory in France last season.

Spaniard Jose Suarez is fourth in the standings and hopes that the extra seat time from an outing on Rallye Villa de Llanes, a round of the Spanish Tarmac championship last weekend, will help him to combat the slippery sealed surfaces of the Alsace. Rounding off the top five is Sweden’s Pontus Tidemand who is three points adrift of Suarez.

Also in action will be Scotland’s John MacCrone who led the previous asphalt event in Germany. Dutchman Timo van der Marel is hoping that an outing on a rally in Belgium last week will have prepared him well for the championship’s penultimate round.

Completing the WRC Academy runners in France is Fredrik Ahlin who has endured a frustrating second season in the young driver-training series. “For us, the most important thing will be to finish and complete all of the stages with no problems. But once we have found our rhythm, we can certainly try and push a little more,” explained the Swede.