By Paul Evans
Ford World Rally Team boss Malcolm Wilson has praised new Welsh rally duo Elfyn Evans and Phil Mills on a “remarkable job” after finishing day one of the Tour de Corse in sixth place – despite very little time to prepare for the event together.
With Evans’ regular co-driver Daniel Barritt still recuperating from their high-speed Rally Mexico shunt, Mills was drafted into the team as super rally sub. He’s long since hung up his race suit and crash helmet – in fact, today was the first competitive WRC stage the 2003 World Champion had contested in anger for eight years. And it’s one of the toughest events for a driver and co-driver partnership too, as the rollercoaster Tarmac twister is also known as ‘The Rally of 10,000 Corners’.
Yet with virtually no time to prepare, the 54-year old Newtown-based co-driver was immediately into his stride – calling every corner with split-second accuracy and guiding Evans to a remarkable sixth position. And full credit to Evans too, for adapting to the situation and driving the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC with speed and precision.
“We knew it wouldn’t be plain sailing for us today, but I think it’s gone as well as we could have hoped in the circumstances,” said Evans. “To be fair, Phil has done a really good job. We’re building that trust, and hopefully we can keep improving as the weekend goes on.
“My notes aren’t the easiest if you don’t know them inside out. Obviously Phil knows them quite well from being a part of our Route Note Crew, but there are little tricks and ways that things have to be read to makes everything flow a hundred percent. If you’re not used to reading them day after day it’s extremely difficult, so he’s done a really good job.
“There are a lot of new sections coming up tomorrow and, honestly, I was finding the going a bit easier in the more familiar sections today. We have to keep going so let’s just give it our best and see what we can do.”
“To think that Elfyn and Phil only had a few hours together before they even started the recce, I have to say that they have done a remarkable job,” added Wilson. “Having been part of Elfyn’s gravel crew, Phil is familiar with the notes but I’m sure it was a bit of a shock getting into one of these new cars for the first time! The delivery of the pacenotes and the relationship between the two of them has been getting better and better, and I hope they can continue that progress as the event goes on.”
Evans’ team-mates Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia lead the Tour de Corse after day one, with Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai) 33.6 seconds behind in second and Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroën) third, a further 5.1 seconds further behind. All hopes Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena had of winning the event for a fifth time vanished on SS2 when they crashed their Citroën.
Day two tomorrow contains another three challenging stages, each done twice, situated to the north of the island. The event finishes on Sunday.
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1:19:39.0
2. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +33.6
3. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) +38.7
4. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +44.2
5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:13.5
6. Elfyn Evans / Phil Mills (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:13.8
7. Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:14.4
8. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:25.0
9. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:29.2
10. Bryan Bouffier / Xavier Panseri (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:44.8