Elfyn Evans has finally secured his long-awaited World Rally Championship title after finishing as the championship runner-up no fewer than five times in his career. The Welshman led the standings for much of the campaign, before his young teammate Oliver Solberg emerged as a fierce title rival right down to the dramatic season finale.
The Toyota drivers sit at very different stages of their professional rallying journeys. Evans is approaching 38 years of age, while his rapid Swedish challenger is only 25, creating a compelling intra-team battle throughout the grueling championship rounds.
Reflecting on his journey to the pinnacle of the sport, Evans admits that two past seasons still sting with a sense of what might have been. "There were two seasons when it really felt as though the title was within reach. One of them was last year. We lost everything at the season finale in Saudi Arabia, but until then we were very close to the title," Evans recalled in an interview with Japanese website Rallyplus.
The other major heartbreak came during the pandemic-affected calendar when weather conditions disrupted proceedings. "The other was the year when the snow caused us problems at Monza. The switch to a Tarmac rally and the snow caught us completely by surprise. Those were probably the two seasons when I came closest to becoming world champion.">
Now that he has achieved his ultimate career goal, Evans confirms that hanging up his helmet is not part of his immediate horizon. "I had already decided a year ago that I would continue full-time for at least the next two seasons, 2026 and 2027. So winning the title did not change my plans in any way.">
However, becoming world champion has presented the experienced campaigner with an unexpected choice regarding his car's identification number for the upcoming defense of his crown. He remains torn between adopting the prestigious number 1 or keeping his trusted personal number.
"At the moment, my own preference is to continue with number 33, but Scott is very keen to use number 1. We still need to discuss it," Evans explained regarding co-driver Scott Martin. "I feel that number 33 has become part of my identity over the past few years. I don’t think winning the world title changes that.">
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