By Paul Evans
Sardinia is a special place for Elfyn Evans, as it’s where he made his World Rally Car debut – taking an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC to a magnificent sixth place finish in 2013. Magnificent because, while he’d done a lot of the car’s development testing, the World Rally Car was a massive step up from the Fiesta R5s and R2s he had been competing in – and Evans instantly proved that he was more than capable of handling the extra power and pressure.
A lot has happened to the 29-year old from Dolgellau since then – not least becoming a World Rally winner, thanks to his victory on last year’s Wales Rally GB. And now his 2018 season is on the up too, after Evans finished second last time out on the Rally of Portugal, after a well judged and inch perfect run in the latest Fiesta WRC.
Like all FIA World Rally Championship events, Rally Italia Sardegna (7-10 June) has its unique qualities – all of which make it an extremely tricky event. The narrow sandy gravel roads are lined with big rock, so sliding an inch or two off line could spell disaster. And as the WRC reaches its mid-point of the season, European summer temperatures on the Mediterranean island are also likely to be a factor, with high in-car temperatures a challenge for crews and a greater than normal stress on engines and transmissions.
Evans has good experience of the event, contesting it four times and narrowly missing out on a podium there in 2015. A recent pre-event test in Sardinia went well, so he and co-driver Daniel Barritt will start quietly confident.
“Sardinia will always be a special place for me,” said Evans. “It’s where I first got behind the wheel of a world rally car and I’ve come to really enjoy the challenging nature of the stages. It’s not an easy rally by all means, but I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much.
“It’s such a demanding event and there are so many things that you need to keep in mind. The stages themselves are very rough and abrasive. You need to keep a margin within your driving otherwise your rally can be over before it’s even begun.
“Then there’s the heat. At this time of year we can be looking at temperatures as high as 30°C. That takes its toll on the cars, and the 50°C plus temperatures inside the cockpit take their toll on the crew too!
“After our good result in Portugal we’re keen to keep that momentum going in Sardinia. We’ve completed two days of testing and we’ll have a fairly good road position on Friday that we’ll need to make the most of. If everything goes our way, I see no reason why we can’t be challenging for another strong result.”
This year’s Rally Italia Sardegna, Round 7 of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, starts on Thursday night with a short stage around the former Ittiri motocross track, before crews head northeast for two identical loops of four stages on Friday. Saturday is the longest day with two loops of three repeated stages, including the Monte Lerno stage and its iconic ‘Micky’s Jump’. The loops are split by a visit to the Ittiri stage. Sunday covers two repeated stages around the coast north of the host town of Alghero. In total, there are 20 stages covering 195 miles of competition.