Wales Rally GB in fine fettle as local hero Evans takes to the top step

Or could it just have been a single name: Elfyn. No British driver had stepped atop the podium of their home event since Richard Burns way back in 2001. Step forward, Elfyn Evans. 

The 28-year-old is still very young in rallying terms, most don’t break into the winning ranks until they have hit their 30s, but he already has 62 WRC rounds under his belt and the mental determination to fight his way back from being dropped by the top-line M-Sport team into the WRC-2 ranks. Rather than letting himself languish and see out his career as a top-level but second-tier driver, Elfyn had regrouped, dominated the British Rally Championship and put in convincing displays in WRC-2 when the opportunity arrived.

The clever people at DMACK were watching and plucked him back from the lower ranks into their single WRC entry, run by the team at M-Sport he knew so well. DMACK themselves were also shy of a victory in the WRC. They came close in Poland in 2016 only for a puncture to ironically end Ott Tanak’s charge to victory that had been underpinned by his rubber. Again they were thwarted in Argentina this year. This time Evans had built a commanding lead thanks to the superior performance of the DMACK tyres against their Michelin foe. This time it was the unstoppable charge of Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai that put paid to their chances of a top-step finish. 

Who would have thought as Elfyn stood on the second step of the podium in Argentina that DMACK wouldn’t be a one-rally wonder in 2017? Their focus on individual rallies meant that Evans was ultra-competitive at some events, but off the pace on others. Come October many waved away suggestions that Evans was on his way to victory after a shakedown triumph, batting off then four-time champ Sebastien Ogier’s claims that Evans’s speed would be repeated and that he was stonewall favourite. It just couldn’t be true, a second faster a mile? No.

But then Elfyn just flew away. And in the stages, those who could get 4G reception in the forests (something akin to finding a truffle in the desert) were spreading the vicious rumour that the home-piloted Fiesta was cruising away from the field.

“He’s 10 seconds up at the split” said one. “No, check again” said another. But no one could deny it was happening. The stars had aligned perfectly and Elfyn just might be about to go and do what father Gwyndaff never could. 

The forests of Wales are lined with deadly traps for a rally driver. As if the mud and trees weren’t enough, this part of the famous valleys is logging country, and when the machines cleared out to make way for Wales Rally GB they left their prizes neatly stacked by the side of the road. Hit one of those (as Neuville found out in previous years) and it’s truly game-over.

But where was the mud? Was it on Hafren? Nope. Were the open mountain plains of Myherin concealing it all? Nope. Or was it that the sun was so intent on remaining seen in the sky that the only mud to be found on Friday was just behind the water splash on Sweet Lamb? Extraordinarily, that was true. And with the dust came stunning photos, giddy Brits and a strange sense of carnival. All those there were happier than ever, some were even removing coats. Was this really Wales? 

But in that DMACK-liveried car Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt were at odds with those outside. Hoping for some actual mud to emphasise the advantage their rubber gave them, and that the pair’s unmatched local knowledge brought. Or were they at odds? Sure the sun was lovely, but is Rally GB the same without mud? Or might we just as well be in Catalunya?

Fear not. The Welsh clouds weren’t going to disappoint. Just make it a little easier. While memories of the deluge of 2015 were a little too close in the memory for some, the sight of wet stages brought joy for most. Puddles were filled ready to be emptied by the coolest water-shifters in the world. This was rallying at its British best.

And still, Evans plowed on ahead. Through the stages that basically go past his front door. Dyfi was ticked off, Dyfnant brushed aside, even heavy fog developing in the thick darkness of the night stages couldn’t stop the Welsh wonder. This might actually happen they said. But shhh, don’t curse it. 

Curse? What curse? There’s nothing that can stop M-Sport this weekend. Unless you’re Ott Tanak of course. The Estonian had a slim chance of wrestling that title away from the clutches of Ogier when he arrived in Wales, fresh with a new contract with Toyota in the back pocket. But it wasn’t to be. The fog did for Tanak’s challenge. But for the other two Cumbrian cars this was a weekend of unrivaled joy. First Ogier crossed the line and handed Malcolm Wilson’s group that most precious of gems: their first WRC driver’s title. Then Evans rounded the day off. He had kept his pace steady, but competitive on day three. No wishes for extra points from the power stage here, just a steely determination to end that British hoodoo. As he crossed the line everyone cried. The spirits of Clark, McRae and Burns smiled, and Britain had a rallying hero once more.

This was a Wales Rally GB of triumph, an event that dragged itself back from a doldrum in the late-‘00s to absolute excellence in ’17. Never have the stages looked so packed, never have so many cars had to find crowded space on the road beyond the allotted car parks, never had so many been seen walking literal miles just to get anywhere near the stages. It was magical, just how the British round of the WRC should always seem.

Photography by Ben Miles