Elfyn Evans looks for Rally Croatia improvement after slow World Championship start

Elfyn Evans was forced to retire at Rally Sweden in February

Elfyn Evans admits his performances in the first two rallies of the World Championship mean he is under pressure going into Rally Croatia this weekend.

Evans finished 21st in Rally Monte Carlo before having to retire from Rally Sweden after a final-day crash.

The Welsh driver is currently 13th in the championship table, 42 points behind leader and fellow Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera.

"It's not been the ideal start to the season for us by a long way," he said.

"Coming away from the first two rounds with virtually no points is a difficult position to be in now.

"The season will be competitive and these mistakes could prove to be costly, but for now we have to put them behind us and focus on the rallies to come."

Evans finished second behind world champion Sebastien Ogier at Rally Croatia last year.

Evans was leading going into the final stage, but Ogier overturned the deficit to win by just 0.6 seconds.

"We had a strong Sunday morning that put us into the lead, but unfortunately I fell at the final hurdle," Evans added.

"On the penultimate corner of the last stage we slid slightly wide and lost a couple of seconds, and that was enough to cost us the win. But the speed was there which is encouraging before this weekend."

Rally Croatia begins on Friday and runs through to Sunday.