By Paul Evans
Elfyn Evans is on the brink of scoring his best result of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship season, as he starts the third and final day of the Rally of Portugal in second position.
Co-driven by Daniel Barritt, Evans has driven superbly throughout the event so far – recording two fastest stage times in his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta WRC on day two to underline his status as one of the very best WRC drivers.
Evans finished day two 39.8 seconds behind leaders Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) with just five short stages remaining on Sunday.
“On the whole I think we can be pretty happy with our day,” said Evans at the end of day two. “It’s not been perfect by all means and I was a bit disappointed with both runs through the Amarante stage (SS12 and SS15). But overall we can be pretty satisfied and we’re in a good position going into tomorrow.”
“Elfyn is in a much better place this weekend and it’s great to see him back at the top of the time sheets,” added M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson. “I think he was probably a bit disappointed with his runs through the long stage, but it’s still been a good performance and he’s on course for what could be a really important result for both him and the team.”
Rally of Portugal – top 10 after day two
1. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 3:16:30.0
2. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +39.8
3. Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +57.2
4. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:01.9
5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:13.0
6. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen DS3 WRC) +3:14.1
7. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen DS3 WRC) +4:53.1
8. Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia R5) +12:52.7
9. Lukasz Pieniazek / Przemyslaw Mazur (Skoda Fabia R5) +14:12.1
10. Stephane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau (Citroen C3 R5) +15:00.4