British Success And Another Crown For French Superstar

M-Sport and Ogier crowned as Evans lights up Wales

- David Evans

Elfyn Evans, M-Sport and British rallying celebrated a history rewriting Wales Rally GB last week – but Malcolm Wilson is now working harder than ever to keep his squad in the frame for more success next season.

Evans became the first ever Welsh winner of Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship and the first Brit since Richard Burns in 2000. And M-Sport doubled its world title tally in one afternoon, by lifting both the manufacturers’ and the drivers’ championship with Sebastien Ogier.

M-Sport also becomes the first genuine privateer team to lift the world title, having developed and built the iesta WRC entirely at its Dovenby Hall base.

An emotional Wilson told MN: “It’s starting to sink in now and I’m starting to understand that it can’t get any better than this. You look back to when we won the two titles before, particularly the second one on Rally Ireland and it was messy. Marcus [Gronholm] crashed, we didn’t win the rally, but we got the title and that was OK. This time, it was everything and it was so, so special.

“Ott [Tanak] crossed the line and that was the manufacturers’, then Seb was next, that was the drivers’ and then Elfyn came and won our home round of the world championship. It couldn’t get any better than that. Everything was perfect, we got the triple crown on this one.”

Wilson admitted, however, that there was the odd moment of doubt on the final day in Wales.