Evans explains crazy WRC Rally Sweden stage end finish

The Welshman was on a charge as he attempted to close on team-mate and rally leader Kalle Rovanpera when he slid into a snowbank on the final corner of the 11.17km spectator stage.

The snowbank sucked Evans’ GR Yaris in requiring the Welshman to floor the throttle to power through and over the snow mound and crucially crossed the time beam in the process.

Evans was lucky to reach the finish only losing 2.6s to his rival Rovanpera, leaving him 8.3s behind heading into Sunday’s final stages.

“I mean the snow bank was put there to create the stage, it was really soft,” Evans told Autosport.

“We came in a bit hot obviously and we were more or less on the finish line when we hit the bank.

“I think we knew as I had gone through the board that we had finished at that point,” he added, when asked if he was worried he would fail to cross the finish line.

Evans had closed to within 1.2s of leader Rovanpera earlier in the day after winning the afternoon’s first stage before his younger teammate struck back to win the final two tests of the day.

Looking ahead to Sunday, he remains confident in taking the fight for victory to his teammate on Sunday.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“We will keep plugging away and see what can be done obviously Kalle has been really strong this afternoon, but the gap is still not unreachable," he said.

Rovanpera and Evans started the day behind Hyundai’s overnight leader Thierry Neuville and in front of teammate Esapekka Lappi, as part of a thrilling four-way tussle for the win, covered by 8.8s.

Rovanpera emerged in the rally lead after the day’s first stage before stamping his mark on the event with a brave drive to win the two night stages.

Reflecting on his surge to lead, the Finn admitted he has enjoyed the close fight between his rivals.

“It was an enjoyable day and really nice fight," Rovanpera told Autosport. "We lost a bit of time at the beginning of the loop but we gained it back on the last two stages.

“It is always nice to be in a tight fight as you need to push yourself more and you can enjoy. I just need to push on and try and keep at the front.”

Rally Sweden will conclude on Sunday with crews set to tackle four more stages.