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Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh professional
rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...
driver. He has competed full-time in
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
since 2014, originally for M-Sport Ford and currently for
Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) is a motorsport division of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. Alongside competition activities, the division develops technologies for the Gazoo Racing (GR) sub-brand of Toyota's sports and performance-oriented pro ...
since 2020. Evans was runner-up in the drivers' championship in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024, with a total 11 wins and 41 podiums. Scott Martin has served as his co-driver since 2019.


Career

The son of 1996
British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship (BRC) is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in ...
Champion and former
WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WWRC, a radio station (570 AM) l ...
driver Gwyndaf Evans, he is sponsored by the family
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
motor dealership in
Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...
, first established by his great-grandfather in
Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy (; ) is a town in the Community (Wales), community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470 road, A470, and consequently many visitors pass the ...
, renamed to Gwyndaf Evans Motors in 1983."About GEM"
, Gwyndaf Evans Motors
Evans began his professional career in 2007, driving a
Group N In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing "standard" large-scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specifi ...
production-car-class
Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...
in the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy. He also competed in that year's
Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...
in Wales. In 2010 Evans won the British Junior Rally championship and was the winner of the UK Ford Fiesta Trophy series, also he won the Pirelli Star Driver Shoot-out after two days of tests and assessments at the Sweet Lamb rally complex in his native Wales, with a prize of a fully funded season in a Pirelli-backed Group N
Subaru Impreza The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth g ...
run by the championship-winning TEG Sport team – a prize worth in excess of £200,000. In 2012, Evans secured the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Academy title, the R2 title in the British Rally Championship (BRC) and the UK Fiesta Sport Trophy. In addition, he won the end-of-year FST International Shootout. In 2013 he contested a programme of WRC events in a 4WD car – his prize for winning the WRC Academy – and worked at M-Sport, helping to develop rally cars for the WRC and other championships. His 2013 season began with the first round of the Australian Rally Championship, the National Rally in Canberra, in which he retired early on the first day. He then drove a Fiesta RRC on the WRC Rally of Portugal, retiring with a transmission problem before starting the final day under Rally 2 regulations. To his surprise, he was then asked to compete on the Rally Italy in Sardinia in a Ford Fiesta World Rally Car after
Nasser Al-Attiyah Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabd allāh al-ʿaṭiyyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WR ...
was forced to withdraw because of commitments in Qatar. Despite having never competed on the event before, using Nasser's co-driver, competing in a WRC car for the first time and with no pre-event testing, Evans finished sixth. Evans switched to
M-Sport M-Sport is a motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, United Kingdom. It is primarily known for entering the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1997 in partnership with Ford, manufacturing race an ...
for the 2014 season to drive a
Ford Fiesta WRC The Ford Fiesta WRC is a World Rally Car built by the M-Sport World Rally Team for use in the World Rally Championship starting in 2017. It is based upon the 2017 Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which competed betwee ...
as the teammate of veteran
Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2 ...
. His best results have been fourth at Mexico and Germany. The driver scored two podiums in 2015, finishing 7th in the overall standings. M-Sport dropped Evans to the WRC-2 in 2016. Driving a Ford Fiesta R5, scoring wins at Monte Carlo, Sweden and Tour de Corse. He also won the
2016 British Rally Championship The 2016 MSA British Rally Championship was the 57th season of the British Rally Championship after a one-year absence. The championship featured eight classes: * BRC 1 ( R5, R4, Super 2000, Regional Rally Car) * BRC 2 ( N4) * BRC 3 (R3) * BRC ...
with five wins in seven races, also driving the Ford Fiesta R5. For
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, Elfyn rejoined the
M-Sport World Rally Team The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (formerly "M-Sport World Rally Team", "Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team", and "Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team") is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson that w ...
to drive the
DMACK DMACK, the parent company of DMACK Holdings Ltd., is a Rovereto, Italy, based tyre manufacturer which started as a company based in Carlisle, United Kingdom. History DMACK was founded in 2008 by Dick Cormack to deliver smaller tyre sizes tha ...
car. He started the year with sixth in
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, setting several fastest stage times, and then repeated the performance in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. After two disappointing rounds in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
, at round five in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, Evans benefited from misfortune for his rivals to end day one with a minute's lead. On day two, Evans struggled with punctures, a spin and a damaged diffuser, and saw his lead fall to just 11 seconds. On the final stage, it was a straight battle between him and
Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...
driver
Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville ( ; born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up five times (2013, 2016–2019) and achieved his maiden ...
. He pushed early in the stage, but lost several seconds when he hit a bridge. He tried hard to make up the lost time, but in the end he lost his first victory by just 0.7 seconds to Neuville. In
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, Evans was left to uphold team honors after a crash for teammate
Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Eugène Emile Ogier (; born 17 December 1983) is a French Rallying, rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He is currently teamed with co-driver Vincent Landais. He has won 8 List ...
and a puncture for
Ott Tänak Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship. Tänak achieved his maiden ...
. He dutifully set consistent top three stage times and snatched second place on the last stage from
Juho Hänninen Juho Ville Matias Hänninen (born 25 July 1981) is a Finnish rally driver. He is the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) champion and 2011 Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC) champion with co-driver Mikko Markkula driving a work ...
, in what many journalists described as the best drive of his career so far. At the penultimate round on his home rally in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, Evans took advantage of his DMACK tyres, which were widely suited to the conditions, to take his first WRC victory, the first for a Welsh driver, and the first for a British driver on
Wales Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international rallying, motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship ( ...
since the late
Richard Burns Richard Alexander Burns (17 January 1971 – 25 November 2005) was an English rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world ...
in 2000. He would finish the championship in fifth place. Evans would later repeat the success he found in Wales with a second career victory in the
2020 Rally Sweden The 2020 Rally Sweden (also known as the Rally Sweden 2020) () was a motorsport, motor racing event for rallying, rally cars that was held over four days between 13 and 16 February 2020. It marked the sixty-eighth running of Rally Sweden and was ...
, during his first season with
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team is a competitor of the World Rally Championship (WRC) based in Finland, serving as the entry for the car manufacturer Toyota. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala and its drivers for ...
, where he led the rally despite adverse weather conditions which forced the organisers to abridge the event to just nine stages. This marked his first win in Sweden, his first rally win for Toyota, and the first British driver to win the event. His victory in Sweden also allowed him to lead the points standings in the WRC driver's championship for the first time in his career. He eventually finished the year in second position in the Covid-abbreviated championship, helped by a second rally win of the season in the
2020 Rally Turkey The 2020 Rally Turkey (also known as Marmaris Rally Turkey 2020) was a motorsport, motor racing event for rallying, rally cars that held between 18 and 20 September 2020. It marked the thirteenth running of Rally of Turkey, Rally Turkey and was t ...
. He finished the season eight points behind champion
Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Eugène Emile Ogier (; born 17 December 1983) is a French Rallying, rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He is currently teamed with co-driver Vincent Landais. He has won 8 List ...
, and nine points ahead of
Ott Tänak Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship. Tänak achieved his maiden ...
, who finished third. During the
2021 World Rally Championship The 2021 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-ninth season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Teams and crews competed in twelve rallies for the Li ...
, his second season with Toyota, Evans won two further WRC events, in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, and finished in second position in five others. He remained in contention for the title until the final rally of the season, but finished that event in second position to championship winner and Toyota teammate Ogier with only a 0.6-second time difference. For the second year in a row, Evans finished the championship in second position, 23 points behind Ogier and 31 points ahead of third-placed
Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville ( ; born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up five times (2013, 2016–2019) and achieved his maiden ...
. During the
2022 World Rally Championship The 2022 FIA World Rally Championship was the 50th season of the World Rally Championship (WRC), an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Teams and crews competed for the World Ral ...
, his third season with Toyota, teammate
Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000) is a Finnish professional rally driver who competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is a double World Champion, having won the 20 ...
secured the drivers' championship title. Evans didn't secure any wins this season, but with 4 podium finishes, ended the championship in 4th position. Evans contributes his dry spell in 2022 to not adapting to the new hybrid cars introduced at the start of the season, admitting others adapted better, but he was determined to improve for the 2023 season with hopes to challenge for the title. The
2023 World Rally Championship The 2023 FIA World Rally Championship was the 51st season of the World Rally Championship, an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and WRC Promoter GmbH. Teams and crews competed for ...
saw a return to glory for Evans, securing 3 rally wins, in
Croatia Rally The Croatia Rally is an international rallying event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship. The event is organised by Automobile Clubs D.T. Motorsport and Cro Dakar Team with the support of ...
,
Rally Finland Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; , ) is a rallying, rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The rally is driven on wide an ...
and
Rally Japan Rally Japan (ラリージャパン) is a rally competition held in Hokkaidō, Japan. The event made its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship during the 2004 season. From 2004 to 2007, the event was held on the twisty and narrow gravel road ...
, in order to secure the runner-up spot behind teammate and championship winner Kalle Rovanperä. The
2024 World Rally Championship The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship was a motorsport championship that was the 52nd occurrence of the World Rally Championship, an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and WRC Promote ...
saw Evans pick-up another runners-up spot, behind Thierry Neuville who had just secured his first drivers championship, Evans took his first and only win of the season in the closing round at 2024 Rally Japan taking the championship runner-up spot away from Ott Tänak who retired. This marked Evans 4th time as the WRC drivers' championship runner-up, hoping to mount a championship challenge for the 2025 season. The
2025 World Rally Championship The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship is the fifty-third occurrence of the World Rally Championship, an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and WRC Promoter GmbH. Teams and crews compet ...
brought on new regulations that removed the hybrid systems that had only just been introduced in 2022. A change that Evans' had previously attributed to a slump in form, Evans' had previously excelled with the non-hybrid Toyotas of 2020 and 2021, mounting championship battles with 8-time World Rally Champion Sebastian Ogier in both years, which proved a positive outlook for Evans' possible championship challenge for the 2025 season.


WRC victories


Results


WRC results

* Season still in progress.


WRC Academy results


WRC-2 results


ERC results


References


External links

*
Athlete profile of Elfyn Evans
on Redbull.com
Gwyndaf Evans Motors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Elfyn 1988 births Living people People from Dolgellau Sportspeople from Gwynedd Welsh rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers M-Sport drivers 21st-century Welsh sportsmen