By Paul Evans
Elfyn Evans and Phil Mills have triumphed in the face of adversity at the Tour de Corse – finishing one of the most technical Tarmac rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship in a flying fifth position.
The Welsh pairing teamed up at short notice to give Evans’ regular co-driver, Daniel Barritt, more time to recuperate from their Rally Mexico accident. In stepped 54-year old Mills, the 2003 world champion, who hadn’t contested a WRC event for eight years, but who knows Evans’ pacenote system well.
The new pairing had just six runs through shakedown to perfect their relationship inside the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Fiesta WRC, but soon found a comfortable rhythm with which to challenge for a strong result.
“It was never going to be an easy weekend for us, but Phil has done an incredible job – jumping in at the last minute and getting us through without incident,” said Evans. “We’ve collected some solid points which is what we came here to do. There is still a lot of work to do as far as the championship is concerned, but at least we can go to Argentina in a positive frame of mind and try to push for a strong result.”
“Elfyn and Phil have done a remarkable job in the circumstances,” added M-Sport Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson. “Obviously we were all hoping that Dan [Barritt] would be fit, but his fitness comes first and we were really thankful that Phil was able to step in and do such a good job. Naturally it took them a while to get used to one another, but they got better and better as the event went on – and this result gives Elfyn a good platform to build on ahead of Argentina.”
Evans’ team-mates Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia won the Tour de Corse, finishing 36.1 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota), with Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai) coming home third.
The next round of the WRC is Rally of Argentina (27‐29 April).
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) 3:26:52.7
2. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +36.1
3. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:07.5
4. Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2:02.6
5. Elfyn Evans / Phil Mills (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:06.1
6. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2:33.5
7. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2:43.4
8. Jan Kopecky / Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5) +10:34.8
9. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (Citroen C3 WRC) +10:40.5
10. Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud (Citroen C3 R5) +12:26.0