WRC
Evans frustrated despite Portugal podium
Elfyn Evans left Vodafone Rally de Portugal with a larger FIA World Rally Championship lead, but admitted his third-place finish did little to hide his frustration.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver completed the podium after late punctures for team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Sami Pajari reshuffled the order on Sunday’s penultimate stage. It was a valuable result for Evans, who now leads Takamoto Katsuta by 12 points after six rounds, but the Welshman felt the performance had not matched the outcome.
“I am frustrated by the weekend,” Evans said. “There were some good bits and I’m very pleased with some elements of the weekend compared to last year. But I definitely feel like we didn’t maximise our potential and, for that, I’m pretty frustrated.
“Especially in the rain, I think we missed a big opportunity there, but the feeling just wasn’t there throughout the weekend.”
Evans spent much of Friday opening the road on Portugal’s loose gravel, before heavy rain, mud and deep ruts transformed the character of the rally across Saturday and Sunday. While Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Pajari and Oliver Solberg all fought for the lead at different points, Evans remained on the fringes of the podium battle before Sunday’s late drama lifted him to third.
“Of course, the outcome in the end is great,” he admitted. “But we benefited a lot from Seb and Sami’s misfortune.”
The result still continued Evans’ strong start to 2026. He has scored points on every round so far and remains the benchmark in the drivers’ standings, but Portugal also left him searching for answers on gravel.
The Welshman said recent development work had moved the car forward in some areas, but also left him less comfortable with its balance on loose surfaces.
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“We had a base we were quite happy with, but of course we’re always developing and trying to move forward,” he explained. “I feel that although we’ve somehow made improvements, I’ve lost my comfortable balance with the car somewhere along the way.”
Asked whether that feeling was specific to gravel, Evans was clear: “Yeah, gravel.”
That made Portugal a useful haul of points, but not the performance Evans wanted. With more gravel events to come later in the season, rediscovering that confidence will be important if he is to keep control of the title race.
Before then, the championship heads to FORUM8 Rally Japan, where a different date on the calendar could bring very different conditions from previous editions.
“I don’t know a lot about how Japan is in the summer,” Evans said. “Apparently it’s very hot.
“With very slow, technical, twisty stages, there won’t be a lot of airflow in the car, so it could be tougher.”
