Portugal repeat for Argentina ace Evans?
Elfyn Evans believes he can carry his stage-winning form into this weekend's WRC counter in Portugal.
The M-Sport driver delivered the performance of his career in Argentina last month. He led for 16 of the rally's 18 stages but narrowly missed a maiden WRC victory by seven-tenths after he was caught by Thierry Neuville in the final stage.
Now Evans is eager to maintain his momentum at Vodafone Rally de Portugal [18 - 21 May] on stages that have lots in common with those in Argentina.
"I think we have a pretty good base to work on from Argentina, there's not a lot we need to change," Evans told wrc.com.
"The soft gravel roads in Portugal are similar, so in theory everything should work, even though this rally has a different dynamic. The stages are more technical and twisty than those in Argentina and the softer base means they'll cut up more, so we'll have to do a good job if we're to repeat the performance.
"It's difficult to know where we're going to be, but obviously we want to do the best we can. We'll have to wait and see where the tyres are this weekend but it's looking okay I think."
Evans ran exclusively on DMACK's soft-compound tyre in Argentina, and he hopes that the weather in Portugal will allow him to stick with the same, proven strategy.
"Dry and cool would be nice," he said. "It would be good to use the softs again because we know where we stand. We might use the hard tyres here but it depends on how hot it will be. The hards are a bit of an unknown."
Three weeks after the crushing disappointment on the Argentina Power Stage, Evans insists his confidence is undented and he has no regrets.
"There's always 'what ifs', but no, I'm not dwelling on it," he said. "There's nothing I can do to change that now. Obviously since the rally I've looked over things and learned some stuff but that's as far as it goes."
- M-Sport team driver Mads Østberg will join Evans on DMACK tyres for Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
