MOTOR SPORT
ELFYN EVANS’ FLYING FINNISH
Perfect win in Finland was a special achievement for Welsh rally hero
Damien Smith
RACING LINES
Evans beat Tänak by 14.1sec to slash Ogier’s overall points lead
Colin McRae and Richard Burns? They didn’t manage it. Kris Meeke was the first, in 2016. Now Elfyn Evans has joined him as the only other British driver in 70 years to have won Rally Finland, following a magnificent performance that has reignited his World Rally Championship bid ahead of the penultimate round this weekend in Spain.
Rally Finland, formerly the 1000 Lakes, is one of rallying’s ‘majors’ beside the Monte Carlo Rally, the Safari and Rally GB. In the old days, only Finns and the odd Swede tended to win it, until Carlos Sainz Sr broke the hegemony in 1990. Since then, the French have tasted success thanks to Didier Auriol and the two Sébastiens, Loeb and Ogier, while neighbouring Estonians Markko Märtin and more recently Ott Tänak – winner in 2018 and 2019 – have conquered the fast gravel roads too.