A story of persistence as Evans' long wait for WRC glory finally ends

Elfyn Evans has finally reached rallying’s summit after years of persistence, securing an emotional maiden world title in the most dramatic fashion in Sardinia last weekend.

In doing so he became Britain’s third World Rally Championship drivers' champion joining an exclusive club that includes Richard Burns (2001) and Colin McRae (1995). Having felt the agony of finishing runner-up on a record five occasions, Evans is no longer the WRC bridesmaid.

The triumph marks the culmination of a long held dream and an almost two decade long journey filled with highs and lows in pursuit of WRC glory. It is fair to say that Evans is a driver that strives for perfection and the down to earth Welshman is known for a meticulous, no-stone-unturned approach, pouring hours behind the scenes in search of the edge to achieve the ultimate dream – becoming world champion.

With the pursuit of perfection complete, Autosport charts the key steps in the journey to glory. 

Stepping out of the shadows 

Growing up in the north-western Welsh town of Dolgellau, as the son of Gwyndaf Evans who lit up the British rallying scene across the 1980s and '90s, it was perhaps inevitable that Elfyn would get the rallying bug - despite the best efforts of his 1996 British Rally Champion father to steer him away.

It was, however, actually his grandfather that taught him to drive in the forestry area behind his house. So it comes as no surprise that Elfyn’s earliest rally memories are of his father, who also ran a family garage and drove a school bus to make a living, grappling a Ford Escort RS2000 on Welsh gravel roads. But like many growing up in this era, it was a certain McRae that also made an impression.

“Obviously I followed Dad competing from the beginning,” Elfyn told Autosport in 2024. “I would say probably the first memory is spectating Rally GB. I remember being quite young and actually seeing Colin McRae. I was waiting to see Dad, but Colin was the first car that came into view with the Impreza at completely 90 degrees. That's probably one of the first memories."

Elfyn Evans and his father Gwyndaf

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Aged 17, Evans began to hone his skills piloting a self built Nissan Micra in national BTRDA rallies in 2006 before upgrading to a Group N spec Ford Fiesta ST150 the following year. It was in 2007 when Evans made his WRC debut competing on home soil at Wales Rally GB, winning the Group N3 class.

Success continued by winning the Ireland First Sport Trophy alongside co-driver Gareth Roberts in 2008, but it was in 2012 when Evans seemed destined for the WRC. The previous year Gwyndaf had managed to secure the budget to contest three rounds of the WRC Academy, now know as Junior WRC. 

“He wanted to do the WRC Academy, which was a huge commitment from myself,” remembers Gwyndaf. “I did a deal and I said, we can find enough budget to go and do three WRC rallies, Finland, France and the RAC in an R2 Fiesta [in 2011]. I said 'you're going to have to prove to me that you're good enough to have a commitment from me and sponsors to go and do the Academy the following year’.

"Honestly, it blew my mind even then how quick he was and how efficient he was behind the wheel" Gwyndaf Evans

“We went over to Finland, and we did a small rally, small test, and I sat in with him. Honestly, it blew my mind even then how quick he was and how efficient he was behind the wheel. I could barely tell him anything because I was just taken aback.

“During that test, some of our Finnish friends came to me and they said ‘we have been watching your son, he’s incredible’. And I thought ‘if that is coming from Finnish rally enthusiasts that know their stuff, then we were on the right track.”

Elfyn was indeed on the right track. In 2012, then aged 24, he won four of the six rounds to win the WRC Academy crown, the R2 title in the British Rally Championship and the UK Fiesta Sport Trophy. The prize for winning WRC Academy was an opportunity to contest all the rounds of the World Rally Championship in an R2 Fiesta, or step up to a four wheel drive Fiesta for selected rounds. 

"The one thing I am determined to do is to take the next step into the world championship and, hopefully, go all the way,” said Evans at the time. And in hindsight, those words were somewhat prophetic. 

Rapid rise to WRC with M-Sport

Evans competed for M-Sport before joining Toyota

Photo by: McKlein / McMaster

Evans made the most of the WRC Academy prize drive with M-Sport, contesting select WRC rounds in a Fiesta R5 (WRC2) in 2013. At this point Evans had also left the family home and began working full-time as a mechanic at M-Sport.   

It’s fair to say quite an impression was made in a short space of time. After only four outings, then M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson offered Evans a golden opportunity to make his top flight WRC debut in Sardinia. Evans stood in for regular Nasser Al-Attiyah alongside the Qatari's co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini. Evans finished a surprise sixth overall, winning a late battle with WRC regular Michal Kosciuzsko by just 0.6s.

"We certainly made the right decision by putting him in the car," said Wilson at the time. 

Evans added: ”I've learned so much about how to get the most out of the car. It's definitely improved my skills as a driver and provided me with more knowledge and experience than I could have ever hoped for."

A pair of runner-up finishes in WRC2 in Germany and France were followed by a maiden home victory at Wales Rally GB. It was seemingly enough to convince Wilson to offer Evans a top flight WRC drive for 2014 and 2015.

Evans took an M-Sport Ford Fiesta to points finishes in nine of the 13 WRC rounds, finishing eighth overall in what proved to be a solid debut season. It wasn’t long before Evans found himself standing on a WRC podium after finishing third in Argentina and second in Corsica. 

However, 2015 provided what Evans called at the time “a bump in the road” as Wilson dropped the Welshman to the team’s WRC2 squad for 2016 with Eric Camilli taking over.

Malcom Wilson, who is now FIA Deputy President for sport

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

"Everybody has tough times in their career - unless your name is Sebastien and you're French - and this is my tough time. I'll deal with it and be back,” said Evans at the time. "I don't agree with the decision and my only priority right now is to get myself back in the world rally car as soon as possible.”

It didn’t take long for Evans to make a top flight WRC return. Three WRC2 wins, while lifting the 2016 British Rally Championship title, resulted in a comeback to M-Sport’s WRC squad for 2017.

“I had to dig quite deep in 2016 and change my approach, to try and have a few less tactics and just step into that car and drive it the best I could at every opportunity. I embraced it, and thankfully I was rewarded the following year," he said.

Top flight comeback delivers first WRC win

The change of approach seemed to work wonders. Driving M-Sport’s DMACK tyre shod Ford Fiesta the Welshman came close to a first win in Argentina, only to lose out to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 0.7s after a brake issue on the final day. Another runner-up finish arrived in Finland before the big breakthrough that just so happened to arrive on home soil in Wales.

“Winning my home rally and taking my first win there was a fantastic feeling" Elfyn Evans

Alongside co-driver Daniel Barritt, the 28-year-old Evans took the first of his 13 wins to date, and this time triumphed over Neuville to the tune of 37.3s. It was also the icing on the cake for a day of days for M-Sport as the team scooped the manufacturers’ title while Evans’s team-mate and future title rival Sebastien Ogier took the drivers’ crown.    

“Winning my home rally and taking my first win there was a fantastic feeling,” said Evans, reflecting on the win.

Two more podiums finishes followed on the way to finishing seventh in 2018 before Evans embarked on a co-driver change as  Craig Breen’s former navigator Scott Martin stepped into the passenger seat for 2019. That year would mark his final season at M-Sport before securing a factory drive at Toyota from 2020. 

Toyota, the home where Evans would finally become champion

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“He did everything he needed to. He worked on the car, became a good mechanic, became a good team-mate, built a team around him, and worked hard,“ said M-Sport team principal Rich Millener of Evans’ time at the team.

“I think it's hard to know from knowing someone so early on whether they can make it or not. But I think as you've seen him develop, and I think he really shone when he moved to Toyota, that's when he took another step on. And he's got stronger and stronger since. If you look at his stats, he's incredibly accurate. He's incredibly reliable and incredibly consistent.”

Becoming a perennial title contender at Toyota

Stepping up to a full factory operation in Toyota offered a new challenge for Evans, but it was one that was quickly embraced. Over the next six seasons he would finish as championship runner-up on five occasions.  

In his first season with the team he found himself locked in a first attempt at winning the world title. It just so happened that he was up against his former team-mate and arguably the sport’s greatest in Ogier, who had landed at the squad after his short second stint with Citroen. It proved to be the first of three intense title fights between the pair as Evans clearly reached a new level of performance during a shortened season disrupted by COVID-19.

A second career win arrived in Sweden before a triumph in Turkey pushed Evans into a healthy championship lead for the first time in his career. A margin of 14 points was taken into the Rally Monza decider and Evans appeared on course to claim the title until he crashed in snowy conditions on stage 11.

Although disappointed, 2020 had confirmed that Evans had become genuine force in the WRC. “He is probably one of the cleverest drivers you will ever come across. He’s also a very good mechanic so you can’t bullshit him. He’s not the most positive to himself and sometimes he’s the most self-critical person I know,” claimed Evans’ Toyota engineer Rui Soares. 

Toyota is where Evans truly made his mark

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“Elfyn is someone that gauges himself against the clock and that’s why sometimes he could be beating everybody and still want more. He always jokes and says I see the glass half full and he is totally the opposite.”

Evans again was locked in a championship fight with Ogier in 2021. The campaign was again built on consistency by finishing all 12 rounds inside the top 10, including victories in Portugal and Finland. This time he faced a much tougher task facing a 17-point deficit to Ogier in the Monza finale and ultimately had to settle for second again. 

"I think it's an okay season, I have given a lot of energy into it and I don’t think I could have given an awful lot more. We knew the title was going to go his [Seb’s] way today, that is not a surprise. It was always a long shot for me," he said.

Last year was statically Evans’ best campaign as the king of consistency, incredibly finishing all 14 rounds inside the top six, scoring two wins and five second place finishes. But once again it ended in agony and it was perhaps the most painful

The following season proved to be winless as Evans struggled to adjust to the new Rally1 machines, finishing a distant fourth behind the WRC’s youngest ever champion in team-mate Kalle Rovanpera. 

Evans was back in the title fight again in 2023 with Rovanpera as his main rival. An emotional victory in Croatia put Evans into the championship lead, but it was brief following a rare crash in Portugal. Evans made the most of Rovanpera’s mistake to win for the second time in Finland but had to concede the title to with a round to spare after crashing at the Central European Rally.

Evans sealed the runner-up spot again in 2024 after winning the Japan season finale as Neuville became a first time world champion, having previously finished runner-up five times. Last year was statically Evans’ best campaign as the king of consistency, incredibly finishing all 14 rounds inside the top six, scoring two wins and five second place finishes.

But once again it ended in agony and it was perhaps the most painful. After quickly adapting to new Hankook rubber, the year began by rocketing into a 43-point lead after the opening four rounds having won in Sweden and Kenya, alonside podiums in Monte Carlo and the Canary Islands. 

Evans dropped off after a storming start to 2025

Photo by: M-Sport

Such a lead meant Evans faced the pain having to open the road for the majority of the year. The disadvantage of road sweeping combined with a sensational part-time campaign from Ogier, who finished on the podiums 10 times from 11 rounds. Evans took a three-point lead over the Frenchman heading into the new Saudi Arabia finale, but ended up missing out on the crown by four points having been hampered by a puncture.    

Once again consistency was Evans’ strength as he finished every rally inside the top six - the only driver to do so this year. But in the crunch battles with Ogier he came up short, beating the Frenchman only once at the Central European Rally where Ogier crashed out. Reflecting on the year, Evans admitted that he needed to be more ruthless and maximise his Super Sunday performances.  

“You always know that every point counts, and of course you want to win, but maybe you don't break your balls to try and beat him [Ogier]. If we're in that same position again, then maybe you have to treat it a little differently,” he said.

Success at long last in Sardinia  showdown 

Lessons were learned and put into practice this year. By his own admission the campaign was not as consistent as the previous one. A 19 rally streak without retirement also came to an end in Kenya due to a suspension failure and that was followed by a crash from the lead in Croatia, although the latter was largely his only real error of 2026. There was also cruel misfortune from punctures, outside of his control, in the penultimate stages in Chile and Sardinia. 

But Evans improved his driving when opening the road and squeezed more points from Super Sundays, which ultimately proved crucial. 

“I think in terms of maybe raw speed and delivering on Sunday, it’s probably been the best season. [That] probably comes on the back of recognising a few weaknesses from last year," said Evans.

“I think also we’ve managed to improve the car a lot again this year which suited me a bit better. Every year that’s gone by with the car I’ve got more and more comfortable and that’s only helped. I think there’s a case to argue that we’re performing better than ever, but in some ways it’s not as consistent a season as maybe what we’ve done in the past.”

Evans made sure to learn from his 2025 shortcomings to go one better in 2026

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Achieving the title was far from easy as Oliver Solberg whittled a 21-point deficit to one to create a tense Power Stage showdown. Evans was convinced another title had passed him by, only for Solberg to suddenly crash two corners from the end in the most dramatic of circumstances.

So the 20-year dream was realised in the most extraordinary fashion.

“I don’t think this will change my life very much. I’ve had a long and great career. This was obviously the biggest goal of all, and now we’ve achieved it. But life will carry on as before," the modest Evans said in victory.

“This is a great reward and also a way of thanking everyone who has supported me throughout my career. It feels as though we achieved this together – the team, my family and, of course, Scott as well.”

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. But it's been a long, long, long journey - what a driver" Gwyndaf Evans

Evans realised his dream standing with his family in what proved to be a full circle moment. 

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet," said a proud Gwyndaf. "But it's been a long, long, long journey. But what a driver! To be that consistent for so many years and to be so calculated and correct in so many sections, I don't think the normal person will understand how good you have to be and how much energy it takes.

"It's just a reward for all the work he's put in. Don't get me wrong. There's a big team that's worked endlessly behind him as well, and they've been so supportive and so welcoming. But ultimately Scott and Elfyn have to do the grinding, and that's between physical fitness, preparation, video work, pace note work, testing and the travelling is becoming huge.

"There is very little time for family unfortunately and he’s got lovely family. There has been sacrifices of course. But hopefully one day they'll reap the benefits of this as well.

"Right now, I'm really happy for him!"

Elfyn Evans, world champion at last

Photo by: Toyota Racing