Elfyn Evans believes the rally championship remains ‘very open’
21st June 2026Toyota’s Elfyn Evans has conceded that there is still plenty of time left in the World Rally Championship, claiming everything ‘is still very open’ as they head to Greece.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Evans will head into Greece next weekend, continuing to lead the World Rally Championship in the drivers’ standings, with 151 points to his name. However, the Welshman still believes the championship is ‘very open’ at the moment.
The Toyota driver enjoyed success last time out, pipping his teammates Sebastien Ogier and Sami Pajari to the top spot in Japan, with them finishing second and third respectively. With his closest championship rival, Takamoto Katsuta, finishing fourth, it extends his championship lead to 20 points over his Japanese teammate.
However, the WRC will dive into seven successive gravel events, which will make up the remainder of the season. As such, the #33 Toyota is expecting the second half of the year to be potentially tough. He said:
“To win Rally Japan again was amazing and it rounded off what’s been quite a good first half of the year for us, but we know that the second half can be tough with every rally being on gravel, so everything is still very open in the championship.”
As a result of Evans’ championship position, he will be at a disadvantage in each of the upcoming rallies to complete the year, unless his championship position changes during that time.
For example, heading into Greece, As part of the regulations, he will be the first driver to venture out onto the Greek gravel stages. He will be forced to sweep and clean the road for those behind, improving the road conditions for the remaining competitors, which will be further improved by each passing car.
However, Evans is banking on his recent experience to help him cope with the challenging conditions on what he describes as one of the more difficult events to open the road.
“Greece can be one of the more difficult rallies to open the road, particularly with most of the Friday stages being run only once,” Evans continued. “But we’ve got some good experience now of being in this position, and we’ve been working hard together with the team to try and improve the feeling and the pace for those conditions.
“We already made a step forward in Portugal, and we’ll be trying to make the best of the situation again in Greece.”
2026 Acropolis Rally Greece: The full WRC stage guide and times
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Fourmaux aiming for win to get Hyundai title bid back on
- More than Machine success increases WRC profile
- Formula 1 remains on track to hit 2030 net zero target
- McLaren formally lodge appeal against Gasly penalties in Monaco
- ‘We hope its him’ says Wolff after Hamilton claims first Ferrari win
- Brilliance In Barcelona: Hamilton Secures Maiden Victory With Ferrari!
- Leclerc hoping to bounce back ‘stronger’ in Austria after Barcelona GP
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
