WRC
Evans: Securing Japan win mattered more than Sunday risk
Elfyn Evans admitted FORUM8 Rally Japan was a victory he needed to secure rather than overplay after extending his FIA World Rally Championship lead on Toyota Gazoo Racing’s home roads.
The Welshman claimed his third Rally Japan win on Sunday, beating defending event winner Sébastien Ogier by 12.8sec after leading from Friday morning’s second stage.
It was Evans’ second victory of the season, his 50th WRC podium and one which moved him 20 points clear at the top of the drivers’ championship after seven of 14 rounds.
But while Evans was pleased to leave Japan with maximum points from the overall classification, he admitted he had deliberately avoided risking too much in pursuit of extra Super Sunday bonus points.
“I don’t know,” Evans said when asked how crucial the victory could prove later in the season. “We have to wait and see for that. It might mean nothing.
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“But on that topic, I’m probably a bit disappointed with today, not to take a few more points. At the same time, the pace was pretty hot and I guess I wasn’t willing to risk enough to grab the last few points.
“But I feel like it was an important position we were in and it was important to secure this win.”
Evans built the foundation of his rally on Friday morning, using his position at the head of the road order to good effect when damp patches and changing grip made conditions difficult to read. Once in front, he was never headed.
Oliver Solberg applied pressure on Saturday morning before crashing out of the victory fight, while Ogier kept Evans honest through the final day, but the championship leader felt he had managed the balance of pace and risk well enough across a rally which never fully settled.
“I think it’s been a tight battle all the way through,” Evans said. “I’ve always had some pressure from the guys behind, so it’s nice to have a fight like that all the way through.
“Of course, we always come into every weekend with high hopes, but you never know how things will go. It was a good start and we took advantage of the road order to set some good times on Friday morning.
“Things were very close, but we managed to maintain it until the end.”
Japan’s move from November to May brought a different complexion to the event. Friday morning still carried some of the low-grip uncertainty familiar from previous editions, but Saturday’s warmer and drier conditions shifted the focus towards keeping Hankook’s asphalt tyres in the optimum operating window.
“In the end, with the conditions we had on Friday, it didn’t feel so different to the past,” Evans explained. “Of course, it was cleaner and there were fewer leaves.
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“Once the Saturday sun came, it was a case of trying not to overheat the tyre and just driving in a good window.”
The result continues Evans’ strong record on Japan’s narrow and technical asphalt stages. He also won the event in 2023 and 2024, making this his third victory since the rally returned to the WRC calendar.
“Yes, it seems to be a bit of a niche,” he said. “You couldn’t get two rallies that are more polar opposites [to Sweden] in the end. It just seems to work. I don’t really have an answer for you, but I guess the technical nature of the stages tends to suit.”
The championship now turns back to gravel, beginning with EKO Acropolis Rally Greece later this month. Evans will arrive with a useful cushion, but with no sense that the title picture has settled.
“I’m looking forward, but of course we’re under no illusions,” he said. “It’s going to probably be tough in Greece, but we have some experience of that now, so we have to try and lean on that and do the best we can.”
