Former racing driver and television presenter Tiff Needell has shared the heartache of World Rally Championship Toyota driver Elfyn Evans as his woes continued at Rally Finland.
Evans is into his 12th consecutive season in the WRC and his fifth with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
The Brit is an eight-time rally winner, but has yet to win his maiden title, finishing runner-up three times in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
So far this season in 2024, Evans is yet to take victory and currently sits fourth in the drivers’ standings with four events to go.
Speaking on his podcast Lovecars On The Grid with Paul Woodman, Needell discussed Evans’ constant ‘bad luck’ in his quest for the championship.
Tiff Needell says Elfyn Evans is ‘supposed to be winning’ WRC as his bad luck continues
At Rally Finland, Toyota ran five cars in the event, with Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and world champion drivers Kalle Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier, whilst also giving young Finnish talent Sami Pajari a chance to run.
Rovanpera had been dominating the Rally Finland weekend until he collided with a rock at Stage 19 and went off the road and out of the race, with Ogier inheriting the win.
The Brit had been in front at the early stages and was chasing Rovanpera when Evans suffered a driveshaft failure at Stage 12 and later crashed and retired towards the end.
And Needell discussed how the Brit should be the one out in front as the main competitor for Toyota rather than Rovanpera and Ogier.
“Yeah, well he [Ogier] was cruising along,” he said. “And they’re both not supposed to be winning the championship. Elfyn Evans is supposed to be winning, he keeps having back luck.
“He was actually leading. He was the one that was leading on Stage 4, I think he was second at the end of Friday. So he was trying to chase Kalle, but there was no sign of doing any team orders to let Elfyn take maximum points.
“But then of course, halfway through the rally on the Saturday, his driveshaft broke, so that put him way down the field.
“And then on the final day he also lost control and stuck it in the trees. So Elfyn got no points on Sunday, had a miserable time.”
Evans falls further behind championship leader Thierry Neuville
Finland was not the first time that bad luck cost Evans in his championship title fight, as the Brit suffered damaging punctures in Kenya, Portugal and Sardinia.
The 35-year-old has achieved four podiums this season – three of which being second places – and had finished in the top six at every round prior to Jyvaskyla.
However, he has yet to win a rally in 2024, compared to his teammates Rovanpera and Ogier, who have three wins each.
The thing is, both the Finn and the Frenchman are competing part time, having ran in six rallies each this year, with Ogier finishing in the top two in all of time.
As the WRC heads to Greece in September, Evans sits 36 points behind championship leader Thierry Neuville.