Welsh rally ace Elfyn Evans swept to victory on WRGB today, ending a 17 year gap since it was last won by a British driver.
It was the best drive of his career after less than a second robbed him of a maiden WRC win in Argentina.
Evans, son of another Welsh and British legend Gwyndaf Evans from Dolgellau, and co-driver Dan Barritt swept out of the muddy Welsh forests and onto the winner’s podium after three tough days of rallying.
He stamped his authority on the event from the start, leading by a little over 23 secs after Day1 and then by over 50 sec on Saturday.
The event was run in uncharacteristically clear & dry weather during the days but the night section was tougher and some mist on Saturday slowed his charge but local knowledge paid off and meant he could keep up the pace when rivals slowed.
Evans was also using a new compound DMack tyre on his M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta and this was ideal for the Welsh conditions where grip was at a premium on the muddy and deeply rutted tracks.
Huge crowds had sensed a Welsh win was a possibility and turned out in record numbers over the three days, making it the best attended and watched WRGB event for many years.
It also saw Seb Ogier take his fifth consecutive world drivers’ title in an identical car but he could not match the pace of the Dragon Driver who could smell victory and was on fire in the forests.