Evans wins Rally Sweden tussle to take WRC lead
Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin won seven of the 18 stages at Rally Sweden in their GR Yaris Rally1 Toyota
- Published
Wales' Elfyn Evans won Rally Sweden after a dramatic final-day tussle with Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta to go top of the World Rally Championship standings.
After winning Thursday's opening stage, Evans held the lead for most of the rally, starting Sunday with a three-second advantage over Katsuta and his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston.
The Japanese driver took stage 16, establishing a 4.5-second lead, before the Welshman roared back on the penultimate run to regain a 3.7secs buffer.
Evans and co-driver Scott Martin then won the final powerstage 0.1secs ahead of Katsuta to claim the rally.
"I made life difficult on that first stage this morning," said Evans who was runner-up in January's season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo.
"It focused the mind, got a good run on those last stages and it's been a good fight," added the 36-year-old from Dolgellau.
Josh McErlean, from Northern Ireland, finished ninth after surviving a final-day scare when he got stuck in a snow bank, losing 49 minutes.
"Today was a bit frustrating but we have to be happy with it," said McErlean, 25, who matched his more experienced M-Sport Ford team-mates for the majority of the rally.
"It's been a big step forward since Monte Carlo, a big positive to come here and match the times of the Scandanavians."
After two events McErlean sits 10th in the overall standings which see Evans lead another Toyota driver Sebastien Ogier by 28 points.
The Welshman collected a maximum 35 points in Sweden to follow up his runner-up spot in the south of France behind eight-time champion Ogier - who did not compete in round two.
"Very good start," added Evans. "Very early days but I don't think you could wish for much better than this."
The drivers now face a huge change in conditions as they trade the snow and ice of Scandanavia for the heat and dirt tracks of Safari Rally Kenya.
Round three of the 14-race calendar runs from 20-23 March.
Rally Sweden result
1. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, 2 hours 33 minutes 39.2 seconds
2. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), Toyota, +3.8secs
3. Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Hyundai, +11.9
4. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, +16.8
5. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, +32.8
6 Martins Sesks (Latvia), Ford, +2mins 02.01secs
7. Sami Pajari (Finland), Toyota, +2mins 27.0secs
8. Gregoire Munster (Luxembourg), Ford, +4mins 8.6secs
FIA World Rally Championship drivers' standings (provisional)
1. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, 61 points
2. Sebastien Ogier (France), Toyota, 33
3. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, 31
4. Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Hyundai, 29
5. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, 26
6. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), 25
7. Adrien Fourmaux (France), Ford, 21
8. Martins Sesks (Latvia), Ford, 8
9. Sami Pajari (Finland), Toyota, 6
10. Josh McErlean (Ireland), Ford, 6