World Rally Championship title rivals, take note: Elfyn Evans has issued a challenge.
The Toyota driver weathered the intense pressures of Rally Sweden to secure a decisive victory, thwarting teammate Takamoto Katsuta's bid for a maiden WRC triumph in a dramatic turn of events.
Evans' 10th WRC victory, tying him with WRC champions Richard Burns (2001) and Ari Vatanen (1981), will be remembered as one of his best after he remained calm under intense pressure and maintained his lead through a closely contested five-way struggle for the win that involved six lead changes. Evans had to regain the lead from Katsuta on the penultimate stage, as the Japanese driver seemed to be on the verge of his first triumph. Ultimately, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin took the win by 3.8 seconds ahead of Katsuta, while Hyundai's defending world champion Thierry Neuville finished third, 11.9 seconds behind.
This was a significant win for Evans, who earned a total of 35 points by narrowly beating Katsuta to the Sunday classification by 0.8 seconds and the Power Stage by just 0.1 seconds.
“Very good start, very early days in the championship, but I don't think you could ask for much more than this,” said Evans, who leads the standings by 28 points from part-time teammate Sebastien Ogier.
Only a few could have predicted a dominating win, that ended with just 16.8 seconds separating the top four, but that's exactly what happened across 293.84 kilometers of Sweden's incredibly fast snow and ice-covered stages.
However, Evans' strong performance was not entirely unexpected. The Welsh driver had previously acknowledged that his 2024 campaign had fallen short of his own high expectations, but he appeared revitalized in January's Monte Carlo event, where he showcased a new level of intensity. This newfound determination paid off as he successfully held off Adrien Fourmaux to finish second in Monte Carlo, and he continued to demonstrate the same grit and resolve in Sweden.
Katsuta came within mere fractions of securing a maiden WRC victory
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Opening the road is usually a significant disadvantage in Sweden but it proved not to be a disaster as Evans predicted. The conditions were nearly ideal, with limited fresh snow to clear and a hard ice base that allowed the studded tires to grip effectively. In fact, the only uncertainty was how the new Hankook snow tire would perform. The outcome was that the South Korean company has produced a highly reliable tire, but one that needs to be fine-tuned to achieve optimal speed.
Evans took the lead from the start, but this rally was a high-speed game of chess on ice, where even the smallest error would have severe consequences. Evans finished Friday's opening leg with a 1.9-second advantage over Fourmaux, followed closely by Hyundai's Ott Tanak and Katsuta, who were only 8.4 seconds behind.
The second round of stages put Evans' determination to the test, beginning on roads with rough terrain, and it was here that the lead changed hands. Over three stages, Katsuta, Evans, and Tanak each briefly held the top spot before Evans regained the lead, finishing the day with a margin of 0.8 seconds. The lead swapping was reminiscent of the epic rally between Petter Solberg and Marcus Gronholm in Rally Sweden 20 years ago.
“It was a truly exceptional and robust weekend, and likely my most impressive showing throughout my entire career, yet, simultaneously, I have a rather conflicted emotional response”
Evans' edge was reduced to 0.1 seconds at the beginning of Saturday as Katsuta emerged as the Welshman's closest competitor, with the top four drivers essentially neck and neck. The gap grew to 8.6 seconds before Evans clipped a snowbank in stage 14 and then stalled at a tight left turn in stage 15, narrowing the gap to just three seconds. Neuville of Hyundai moved up to third, 6.3 seconds behind, after resolving the understeer problem that had plagued him at the start of the rally. Tanak occupied fourth place, 12.8 seconds adrift, following a frustrating Saturday in which the Estonian was hindered by a coolant leak and a suspected mechanical issue with his i20 N, forcing him to operate with a sub-optimal engine map.
With only three Sunday stages remaining, a thrilling conclusion was on the horizon. Evans was a top contender, but Katsuta seemed poised to finally secure that elusive victory. For Toyota, this created a tense and anxious atmosphere. Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala even hinted at implementing a strategic plan with its drivers. However, Toyota adhered to its established policy of allowing the drivers to compete fairly without team orders.
The possibility of a first-time winner looked real as Katsuta produced an impressive drive on stage 16, taking 7.5 seconds out of Evans to move into a 4.5 second lead with two stages remaining. However, Evans was not to be defeated and delivered one of the best performances of his career to retake the lead on stage 17 with a 3.7 second advantage, before going on to win the Power Stage showdown and claim a second career victory in Sweden.
I'm still in shock that it's turned out like this," said a stunned Evans. "Things looked pretty grim after the first stage this morning and I thought I was heading in the wrong direction, but we were able to make a comeback and on a Sunday, a maximum score is always a welcome outcome.
There was a lot for Toyota to be proud of in Sweden, but Katsuta was disappointed to finish 4 seconds short.
Evans' triumph ultimately resulted in heartbreak for Katsuta, a driver who has become a beloved figure among WRC fans and a cherished member of the service team. Many people had been eagerly anticipating his first win, and he has had a string of disappointments in the past, including a heartbreaking crash that cost him a chance at Rally Sweden victory just a year ago. This setback was part of a difficult 2024 season for Katsuta, which also included being left out of the Toyota team's lineup for a rally in Chile. However, Katsuta is now back to his best and on the verge of a major breakthrough, as Latvala noted, saying that his driver is now "ready to win" rallies.
“I had a very consistent and strong weekend, probably my best performance in my career, but at the same time I have a bittersweet feeling - 50% of me is happy that I accomplished what the team needed, but the other half is disappointed because I didn't achieve my personal goal in the second-to-last place.”
“However, I chose to do that to guarantee I completed the rally. I feel this was the correct choice, but ultimately, it proved costly as Elfyn achieved an incredible time. I'm hoping this decision wasn't misguided and that success will eventually come.”
Hyundai showcased its highly anticipated upgrade of its i20 N in Sweden, which included improvements to the suspension. Unfortunately, it had to settle for a second consecutive Toyota 1-2 finish, but the team is optimistic that its hard work will start to pay off in the upcoming rounds.
"Overall, we've achieved a good result, with some fluctuations in pace, but we can still be content with our performance," said Neuville.
When Tanak said, "When you come with high hopes and you get a rally like this, it is difficult to swallow."
What happened to Rovanpera?
This was another rally where Kalle Rovanpera struggled with the Hankook tyres.
Photo by: Toyota Racing
The battle for the win lacked a major player who everyone was expecting to be at the forefront. This was the event where everyone was eagerly awaiting a response from Kalle Rovanpera after he managed a fourth-place finish from a challenging Monte Carlo, where he stated that he needed to change his driving style to adapt to Hankook's new high-performance tyre.
Now that we're back on an event he's enjoying, the stage is set for Rovanpera to accelerate. However, it seems that adjusting to the new Hankook tires will be a challenge for the Finn, who had previously hinted at a tough rally before a single wheel had turned.
Rovanpera struggled to build confidence and found himself battling his GR Yaris, with understeer at the heart of this issue. Not being able to trust the car at such high speeds was always going to be a significant disadvantage.
The team earned many points and showed a good team effort, at least they managed to get the job done, we didn't.
“I don't get to drive the car the way I want – I can feel quite clearly that I need to struggle against the car all the time and I think it [the tire, myself and the car] have all combined together,” Rovanpera said on Friday. “It's not smooth driving everywhere; I need to do some extra things and I'm fighting against understeer a lot, so it's not going very well.”
The Finn achieved the fastest time on stage nine while making steady progress with the setup and his driving style.
“Many points for the team and a good fight between teammates, at least they managed to get the job done, we didn't,” Rovanpera stated. “I believe this year’s approach is different with all the new elements. I’m unsure what it will take to get back to top form, but let's see on gravel.”
Rovanpera was, however, extremely proud of the performance from his close friend Katsuta, saying he was probably more "nervous" than him before the final stage showdown.
French driver Fourmaux struggles after strong beginning
Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon's teammate Pierre Gasly was eliminated in the first round of qualifying, while teammate Esteban Ocon also failed to make it to the final round, finishing in seventh place.
Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport
The fifth driver to secure a victory spot on Friday was Fourmaux from Hyundai. Following his third-place finish in Monte Carlo, the new Hyundai signing reached a high of second place before ending the day in fourth position, still in contention, 7.9 seconds behind the leader, Evans.
Fourmaux seemed unprepared for the start of stage 11 and had to stop briefly after the starting line to adjust his helmet and seatbelt, which cost him 23.6 seconds. Fourmaux acknowledged it was his own mistake, but at the time felt that the marshals should have warned him that his start time was almost up.
“Everything was a mess,” he said. “Incidents like this shouldn't occur, we have marshals on site to ensure everything is in order and the marshal was present, but they didn't intervene. It's my responsibility, but there were no seatbelts, no gloves, and I should have checked the time, but my co-driver Alex Coria informed me we had 10 seconds remaining.”
Fourmaux made up for lost time by winning stage 12, but then crashed into a snowbank on the subsequent test. He managed to secure only one point from Sunday's Power Stage, but he assured that the issue with his helmet strap "will not happen again" in the future.
Fourmaux's exit from the competition rearranged the leaderboard, with Martins Sesks, driving for M-Sport-Ford, taking the lead. Sesks, making his sixth start of the year, posted the second-fastest time in the shakedown session. Although he didn't replicate this performance, a series of consistent stage times at the end earned him a respectable sixth place.
Sébastien Loeb is set to lead the M-Sport Ford charge
Photo by: M-Sport
Sesks managed to hold off his old Junior WRC rival Sami Pajari, who had been struggling to regain momentum after stage two, where he lost 41.6 seconds due to a puncture caused by a minor contact with a snowbank.
M-Sport-Ford's full-time drivers Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean faced a difficult weekend. Munster experienced initial speed issues from the start, and McErlean generally outperformed him. However, Munster improved as the rally progressed, ultimately finishing eighth after McErlean's Ford Puma got stuck in a snowbank in stage 16.
In contrast to the all-out battle for overall victory, the WRC2 competition was a decisive affair. Championship favorites Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson dominated from start to finish, securing their third consecutive Sweden win, by a margin of 42.5 seconds over the fellow Toyota driver Finn Roope Korhonen.
"It's a fantastic feeling, amazing - to win it three years in a row and with a new car that's so fast and able to perform well on snow is an incredible sensation," said Solberg, who placed ninth overall.
However, what the Rally Sweden has clearly demonstrated is that the fight for the 2025 World Rally Championship title is wide open and it's possible that a new name could soon be added to the overall rally winner's board.
Evans was over the moon with joy after Sweden's victory, but the narrow margin hints at a highly unpredictable season
Photo by: Toyota Racing