Mixed feelings for Elfyn Evans

As at the Tour de Corse in 2015, Elfyn Evans came close to achieving his first success in WRC in Argentina. Beaten by Jari-Matti Latvala on the asphalt of the Isle of Beauty two years ago, it was against the Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) que le pilote M-Sport s’est cette fois incliné, par une infime marge de sept dixièmes à l’arrivée de la Power Stage hier.

Victim of brake problems at the start of the day, Evans nevertheless seemed to set a sufficient pace to maintain first place, having a 3″ lead in the first part of the Power Stage. But a small error, with a slight contact against a bridge, and a Hyundai i1 20″1 faster as it crossed the finish line of the El Condor special ruined the Briton’s hopes of victory.

“This SS didn't start very well, actually, because we still have the brake pedal on the floor but, fortunately, they came back quite quickly, I would say in the first kilometer, emphasizes Evans. It was really lucky because if we had continued like that, we wouldn't have been able to take back time like we did.

I was driving quite aggressively to be honest, and I was going to do everything I could to try and win, but towards the end I felt like I was starting to lose grip at the rear of the car. I felt like I had to be very, very patient.

Before hitting the bridge, we were already losing a little time. I wasn't patient enough at the time. I simply pulled the handbrake and continued to slide. The impact was not massive, but it remains a fault.

We knew the car wasn't too damaged, so we kept pushing. Our last part was similar to Thierry's. But unfortunately, the loss of time was done in the narrowest parts. »

Between satisfaction and disappointment

At the head of a significant time capital after the first day, Evans saw his lead gradually disappear against his pursuers led initially by Mads Ostberg (Ford), Ott Tänak (Ford) and Neuville, before the latter became his last real rival before the final timed sector, six tenths then separating Evans from the Hyundai driver.

“Feelings are shared, believes Evans. It's obviously disappointing to have missed out on victory by such a small margin, but it was definitely a rally with two faces.
 
Thierry had problems on Friday even though we had a very good day and were able to establish a fairly substantial lead. But the roles were reversed during the next two stages.
 
Thierry drove very well and no one can take that away from him, but we had a lot of problems, some our fault, some not. To be honest, we haven't had a trouble-free stage since the first stage on Saturday morning, so it was a lot of pressure to maintain our lead.
 
It’s a long story and I could probably write a list as long as my arm as to why we failed to make it happen this weekend. But congratulations to Thierry. He rode very well and on our side, there are still a lot of positives to take away. »

Find the full report and analysis of the Rally Argentina, produced by our special correspondent in Villa Carlos Paz, in issue 2112 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Thursday on newsstands.