Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota) won the Croatian Rally, the fourth round of the World Rally Championship, and now shares first place in the championship with his French teammate Sébastien Ogier, fifth in the event.
Evans took first place in the Croatian event after the abandonment of Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) on Saturday after going off the road. And he didn’t relinquish the lead, managing his lead over Estonian Ott Tänak (M-Sport/Ford), who finished second by 27sec.
Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool.
The driver, born in Dolgellau (Wales), won his sixth WRC rally at the age of 34 and the first since Finland in 2021, with which he is tied for the lead in the World Cup with Ogier with 69 points.
“This seems so insignificant right now. We’ve worked a long time to get to this, but it’s surprisingly insignificant now. We think of our friend, he is all we can think of at the finish line”said Evans, who dedicated the win to the Irishman Craig Breenwho died days ago after an accident during private tests with a view to the race in Croatia.
Ogier, who had started well, could only be fifth, in one of his appearances in this World Cup in which he did not run all the tests. The multiple champion began the year with his victory in Monte Carlo in January and also won in Mexico in March.
Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool.
Having suffered two punctures on the opening day of the rally, Ogier then suffered two penalties which dropped him to seventh. He then plunged into a beautiful duel with the current world champion, the Finn Kalle Rovanperaalso fourth with Toyota, but with no hope of getting on the podium.
Ogier and Rovanpera were the drivers who won the most stages in this rally (seven for the Frenchman and six for the Finn), but they had to bow to Evans’ consistency.
Pursuant to WRC regulations, Neuville was able to set out on Sunday morning with a repaired car to contest the Power Stage. The Belgian won it, scoring five more points in a very tight championship where he is now fifth with 58 points, behind Ogier, Evans, Tänak and Rovanperä. The five drivers are separated by eleven points.
The next round of the WRC is the Rally of Portugalfrom May 11 to 14.
