Evans: We Didn't Win the Championship in Sardinia, It Was a Season-Long Fight

After years of heartbreak and five runner-up finishes in the World Rally Championship, Elfyn Evans has finally reached the pinnacle. In Sardinia, the Welsh driver and co-driver Scott Martin claimed their maiden world title, ending one of the longest waits in modern WRC history.

At the finish line, tension quickly gave way to relief and smiles. In typical fashion, however, Evans immediately reflected on the areas where he could have done better.

His campaign kicked off with a second-place finish at Rallye Monte-Carlo, followed by a victory in Sweden that propelled Evans to the top of the standings. Despite challenging outings in Kenya and Croatia, he continued to gather valuable points. A second-place finish in the Canary Islands returned him to the championship lead, where he remained until the very end.

Following a podium in Portugal, the Brit delivered one of his strongest drives of the year to secure his second win of the season at Rally Japan. The summer months, however, proved to be a grueling test. Opening the road on gravel stages proved costly for Evans, allowing title chasers Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg to close the gap with a string of strong results.

Nevertheless, the championship leader kept his cool and continued to rack up crucial points—fifth in Greece, sixth in Estonia, another podium in Finland, and fourth in Paraguay. In Chile, however, a puncture on the penultimate stage stripped him of second place and dropped him to fifth, with Solberg's victory slashing the deficit at the top even further.

The unfolding drama was reminiscent of past heartbreaks in his career. In 2020, he entered the season finale at Rally Monza with a 14-point advantage, only for a crash on the snow-covered roads to hand the title to Sébastien Ogier. A year later, Evans finished runner-up once more. Two further second-place finishes followed in 2023 and 2024, alongside an agonizing four-point defeat in 2025.

This time, the outcome was different. The Welshman arrived in Sardinia holding a 17-point lead over Pajari and 21 over Solberg, with all three mathematically in contention for the crown. Road sweeping on Friday made life difficult for the championship leader, while Solberg took the lead on Saturday to ramp up the pressure.

Sunday brought maximum drama. A puncture on the penultimate stage forced Evans to stop and change a wheel, costing him around two minutes and wiping out his chances of scoring Super Sunday points. It all came down to the final Power Stage of the rally.

Evans completed the stage safely. Solberg, pushing to the absolute limit in pursuit of the required result, made a mistake and crashed out just two corners from the finish line. Only then could Evans be certain of his triumph, while his father, Gwyndaf, was already celebrating roadside.