Finland: Evans celebrates his fifth victory at the World Radiocommunication Championships

In Round 10 of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC team match in Jyväskylä, Elfyn Evans saved the Japanese team’s honor against the Hyundai Korean forward from Alzenau, Germany. The 32-year-old Welshman claimed Yaris’ fourth win in a row since Toyota’s return in the 2017 World Rally Championship in a dry Finnish Gravel Grand Prix, winning second in the table at Toyota Yaris WRC by 14.1 seconds over Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20 WRC), who won at Jyväskylä in 2018 and 2019. Craig Brien, who was briefly on top in Finland on Friday in the second Hyundai i20 WRC race, will continue his dream of taking his first win. The part-time Hyundai worker crossed the finish line in the Finnish university city in third by 42.2 seconds.

Evans is the first Welshman and second British after Chris Mickey (2016) to break into the stronghold of the Finnish rally Jyväskylä. “We had a good position on the road on Friday. “We went ahead on Saturday and I’m very happy to be able to give the team victory in the home rally,” said Finland winner Evans. “I always said from the start that the goal is to be the best in every rally. We just have to focus on doing our best in Spain, then we will see.”

Estonian Ott Tanak won twice in its neighbor on the Baltic Sea, and this time it was “only” enough to get an honorary rank: “It was great fun. We had to fight hard at first, but with a different attitude things went better. “

Brin said: “It’s a proud moment to be on the podium three times in a row, I honestly can’t believe it. I wish I could fight for victory, it’s not here yet, but it’s better than it was in the past.”

Teammate Thierry Neuville decided not to restart after his problems with the headlights and radiator, and so his first championship after five titles should be written off as runner-up.

Soldier Lapp is convinced

Esapekka Lappi, who took Yaris’ first win in Finland in 2017, was more than satisfied with his World Rally Car debut in 2021. In the Toyota Yaris WRC special he took fourth place (+58.8). “Good result. We can be very happy with our performance and I have to say thank you to the team – the car was perfect the whole time. It was really nice to be back and hopefully we can see you again in the future.” Which Labe hints at being able to share his third official Toyota car with Sebastien Ogier in 2022.

Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourxmaux finished sixth (+5:02.3) and seven (+6:22.9) in both M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta WRC races. They were followed by WRC2 winner Teemu Suninen (VW Polo GTi R5) by 15.3 seconds over defending champion Mads Östberg (Citroën C3 Rally2).

Title decision delayed

With his second goal of the year to Portugal, Evans prevented an early win of the eighth world title for Toyota teammate Sebastian Ogier, who never really took off on the Finnish roller coaster. The seven-time champion and four-time winner led to fifth with a somewhat unusual deficit of 2:54.4 minutes. Ogier had to shiver a little at the end due to engine errors. “I don’t know, the engine stopped. It wasn’t our best performance, but it’s part of the match. I’m looking forward to getting to the tarmac now,” Ogier noted.

Evans, second, cut Ogier’s trail from 44 to 24 points and, with 60 points still to be awarded, could once again have a say in the two remaining asphalt races in Spain and Monza. With the manufacturers, Toyota is on a strong path to a fifth coronation. After the third from the last, Toyota has a 61-point lead over the defending champion by 441 points.

The rally will be back in the summer. Due to the pandemic and the restrictions accompanying the ban on spectators, the rally has been postponed to the beginning of October so that budget-important spectators can then be accepted with reserved seats under certain conditions. The organizer has extended the contract with the WRC promoters until the end of 2023. Finns love jumping, the national sport, in winter from ski jump, in summer over the countless jumping hills on gravel slopes in central Finland. The WRC promoter, who is also responsible for the European Rally Championship, wasn’t so lucky when it came to scheduling. The European Championship round in Fafe, Portugal has collided with the Finnish Rally World Championship, and the European Championship final will be held in Gran Canaria on the same date as the World Championship final in Monza.