Red Bull Motorsports
WRC
How I became pro: Elfyn Evans
From racing bangers in a field as a kid to being within touching distance of the WRC title, Elfyn Evans has had an incredible journey to the top.
From racing bangers “for fun only” as a youngster with very realistic expectations of how hard it would be to make it as a pro, to ending up racing in the same team as his “key inspiration growing up” Sebastien Ogier, Evans has lived it all on his way to the very top.
Elfyn's passion started at a young age
© Gwyndaf Evans
Motorsports in the blood
Perhaps there was an inevitability about Elfyn ending up doing some form of petrol-propelled racing. His father Gwyndaf was British Rally Champion in 1996, when Elfyn was five years old, and growing up in the family business environment of a car dealership in north-west Wales meant a vehicle was never out of sight.
“As a youngster living in a rural area, motorbikes were the thing for me as a kid, but it was my grandfather who taught me to drive in the forestry just behind the house,” says Elfyn of his baptism behind a steering wheel.
“I think I was eight and it was a case of a few cushions under my backside so I could see over the wheel, and my grandad would get us to try and stay on the hill without pressing the brake, to teach us some clutch control.”
Those natural instincts so intuitive when racing a rally car were nurtured intensively in Elfyn’s formative years as a budding driver. The progression to a first taste of racing competition came when he was 13 and participated in banger racing close to the family home.
That revolved around “just taking scrap cars and putting a very basic cage, normally made from telegraph poles, in the back and racing round“, but it wouldn’t be until the age of 17 when Elfyn started competing “seriously”.
Elfyn and his father at a banger racing meeting close to home
© Gwyndaf Evans
Elfyn behind the wheel as a teenager
© Gwyndaf Evans
Serious but steady
Once Elfyn passed his driving test at 17 he started “serious racing”, but, in Efyln's family, there was always a very down-to-earth realism around any expectations he had of turning this into a career.
”I think my dad was always, let's say, pushing for me not to do it rather than pushing for me to do it. I'm not sure if he was testing how hungry I was for it, but I had to build my own cars when I was 17. That was when I built my first rally car, a Nissan Micra,” explains Elfyn.
Where a lot of parents can be almost too eager for their offspring to succeed and, consequently, fallen short, Gwyndaf’s presence has never been overbearing for Elfyn, and the pair have grown together through the younger Evans’ career.
“I obviously followed my dad quite closely as a youngster, and he’s been a key part of my career. He's always been there, fulfilling more of an advisory role. His experience is a good thing to have.
That was something dad always drummed into me, that the chances of anyone becoming pro are very, very slim
“Like with any father-son relationship, I think there's a point where you maybe have to do your own thing as well. But I think we've struck that balance pretty well now. He’s still working with me on some of the rallies in terms of doing the route notes side of things. He’s been central to my career.”
M-Sport driver Elfyn Evans
© McKlien
Growing into rallying
The Micra served Elfyn for his first rally, the F1000 Rally Championship, a cost-controlled series for youngsters to get their first – affordable – taste of competitive rally racing. He finished second, and things started to move along.
“In my second year of racing we moved into a one-make series which was considerably more money than the Micra,” says Elfyn, of his step up to the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy. It was a notable rung on the ladder, as the series was organised by M-Sport, the team with which Elfyn would eventually make his full WRC debut with some years later.
He impressed and finished third in the series, ending 2007 with an entry into Rally GB as the momentum gained on his fledgling rally career.
“Already at that age, I had a sense. There was commitment from a few sponsors and, as soon as you have those sorts of obligations or responsibilities, you naturally take it seriously.
“I was training physically, to do as well as I could, but it was never a clear sense of “you’re going to become a pro” or anything like that. That was something dad always drummed into me, that the chances of anyone becoming pro are very, very slim.”
The odds may still have been stacked against him, but Evans’ consistent development and progress meant that opportunities kept opening up for him, as he continued to rise through the junior series.
The big break
As Elfyn gained more and more experience and recognition as a top talent, he says he didn’t seriously consider the prospect of making it as a pro until he was 24, when he won the prestigious Junior World Rally Championship (then known as WRC Academy).
“Realistically it took until I went to the JWRC in 2012 to really start thinking about having some form of career. I knew when we committed to do that series it was a huge step up and it was a big financial commitment,” he explains.
“I knew it was one shot, to go and do a series like that, and that, if I wasn't able to win and capitalise on the opportunity, that it wouldn't necessarily be the end of rallying, but it would definitely mean I’d not be competing any more at that level, if I wasn't able to be successful in this JWRC series.”
His own standards of success were met resoundingly, as he won four of the six rallies, only finishing off the podium once.
I knew it was one shot, to go and do a series like that, and that, if I wasn't able to win and capitalise on the opportunity, that it wouldn't necessarily be the end of rallying, but it would definitely mean I’d not be competing any more at that level
“Winning it, especially in that year, was very special. The way the championship was formatted, it was equal machinery, equal tyres, everybody had the same, so I really enjoyed winning that on an equal par to everybody else.”
The reward was not just the glory of the title, but the opportunities it presented in a sport where getting a shot at the very top level is extremely difficult.
“With that JWRC title, I won the amazing prize of doing five rallies in the world championship the following year with M-Sport. From there, doors started to open. That 2012 JWRC season was pivotal for my career.”
Standing proud: Elfyn prepares for the next chapter
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Almost there – arriving at the top table
With that opening came some tough decisions, the kind of decisions which require the level of sacrifice often asked of elite sportspeople who are striving for the ultimate goal.
“At the end of that 2012 season I found myself in a position where I left the family business, left home and moved up to M-Sport to live [in Cumbria]. Until that point I was working full time while racing, and then I moved up to M-Sport and was working in the workshop there as a mechanic.
“I was mad keen to make a good impression, so I worked very hard when I was up there, and I kept getting more and more opportunities with them. I actually ended up doing eight rallies that year when I was only meant to be scheduled for five.”
Evans made more than a good impression in that 2013 season, as he finished inside the top 10 at three of those rallies, and was the top WRC-2 driver at the final round on home soil at Rally GB.
Elfyn Evans taking flight at the WRC in 2014
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Hitting the big time but far from plain sailing
A full-time WRC drive with M-Sport, who’d been a constant in Elfyn’s career since his early forays into competitive rally, then followed for 2014.
“There were a few gaps in the driver market for 2014, and thanks to what I’d shown throughout 2013 I managed to find myself with a two-year WRC deal at the end of that year.
“I was so aware that it could have gone either way, like if I hadn’t done very well in 2013 or had crashed a lot, then maybe that opportunity for progression in 2014 wouldn’t have opened up.”
Scoring points at nine of the 13 WRC rounds in 2014 and finishing eighth overall was a solid debut campaign for Elfyn in his first full season.
It ramped up and then fell quite sharply downhill towards the end of 2015, when I effectively lost my full-time WRC seat
The following year he took his first WRC podiums in Argentina and Corsica, but one of the biggest tests yet of his career was to come towards the end of that 2015 season.
“It ramped up and then fell quite sharply downhill towards the end of 2015, when I effectively lost my full-time WRC seat. That meant I faced a difficult decision, because I'd effectively turned pro, and was earning a small wage.” Evans recalls.
“I had to decide whether to throw the towel in or not. I had the chance to step back into the British Rally Championship, which I didn't really want to do having done a full season in a WRC car with a manufacturer team, to then be back essentially in a private outfit for the British championship, but it was still linked to M-Sport.
I had to dig deep in 2016 and change my approach, to have a few less tactics and just step into that car and drive it the best I could at every opportunity
“Malcolm [Wilson, M-Sport team owner] had a new variation of the Ford Fiesta R5 coming out for 2016 and I got the chance to do two rallies in WRC-2, as well as the BRC season. I decided that, if I was going to stay at home, that would be time on my rally career, and I felt like I still had a lot more to prove.”
Elfyn used the experience as an opportunity to learn and improve, winning the BRC in 2016, and it’s clear it has helped to forge the mentality he now adopts.
“I had to dig quite deep in 2016 and change my approach, to try and have a few less tactics and just step into that car and drive it the best I could at every opportunity. I embraced it, and thankfully I was rewarded the following year in 2017 with a full-time seat back in the world championship.”
Bouncing back stronger
Revved up: Elfyn behind the wheel at the WRC, 2017
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Elfyn approached 2017 head on with his renewed focus and podiumed in Argentina and Finland. He rounded out the season with his first WRC victory at Rally GB.
“Winning my home rally and taking my first win there was a fantastic feeling,” he remembers with pride.
“My career’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, very up and down to be honest, but I’ve remained in the WRC since then, and I think I’ve gone from strength to strength.”
Few would disagree with that assessment, especially given the situation Elfyn now finds himself in.
Elfyn describes his career as 'a bit of a rollercoaster'
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
Racing against idols for the ultimate prize
For 2020, Evans moved to the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team and hit the ground running. He won Rally Sweden in Round 2, and with high-scoring points finishes in every round this year, including another win in Turkey, he now leads his team-mate and six-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier by 14 points heading to the season finale in Monza.
Driving in the same team, and competing against Ogier for the title, is something that holds special significance for Elfyn.
“The key inspiration for me, growing up, was Seb Ogier because he was probably one of the few drivers at the time who had managed to break into the WRC without any big family backing or huge investors etc.
“He did it on talent and immediately showed what he was capable of when he got the chance in the world rally car. I looked up to him when I was a youngster climbing through the ranks. I admired the way that he'd gone about things and dominated all the junior categories before moving up into the into the WRC car. And now I find myself as his team-mate, which is a bit surreal!”
On the opportunity to claim the title and realise a lifelong dream, Evans remains focused on the task at hand, relying on that rational mentality instilled in him as a youngster and honed throughout his pro career to date.
“I never expected to be in this situation back then when I started!” he says. “It’s still extremely close, and anything can happen. I need to be at my best and have a really good last round.”
It looks like all the ups, downs and sacrifices along the way are just one result away from paying off in the most handsome manner possible for Elfyn.
