Elfyn Evans admits that Acropolis Rally had its ups and downs for him and feels lucky that he finished second overall after the problems he faced on Saturday.
The Welshman set the eleventh-fastest time at the superspecial stage on Thusday, but he gained five places after the opening Friday stage despite the fact that he arrived at the stop control with a puncture. On Friday afternoon, he was fighting with Esapekka Lappi for the fourth position, but the Toyota driver lost two places when he damaged his Yaris's rear wing in Stage 6. The most difficult day for him was Saturday as he lost more than one minute in SS9 due to the fact that he had to drive on EV mode after breaking the radiator and the oil temperature being high. After Thierry Neuville's retirement in Stage 10, Evans climbed to third overall and managed to hold his place despite his puncture in SS11. As Sebastien Ogier slipped behind his teammates and Dani Sordo, Evans would give a battle with Sordo for the second place on Sunday and eventually EE finished ahead of the last one for 4,2 seconds. After the end of Acropolis Rally, Kalle Rovanpera increased his championship lead over Evans to 33 points.
"It’s been a pretty up-and-down weekend", Evans said.
"If we rewind to Saturday lunchtime, we were very lucky to stay in the rally after the radiator damage.
"We lost over a minute, so to come back to second place, we have to be happy considering everything.
"Dani was keeping the pressure on and it was still really tight going into the final stage, so it was good to secure the place in the end and to take some Power Stage points as well.
"It’s not been a perfect weekend for us in championship terms, as Kalle’s been very strong, so congratulations to him, but we will continue to give it everything.
"And it’s an incredible result for the team: a credit to everyone for making a leap forward from where we were here last year".
Photo Credits: Toyota
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