How Evans is finding Toyota transition

Meirion Evans made his transition to Toyota’s Yaris Rally2 look easy on the British Rally Championship’s North West Stages opener. Now he faces a new challenge as the rejuvenated series heads to Severn Valley’s iconic Welsh gravel stages.

Last year’s Irish Tarmac frontrunner spoke to Rally Insight after his promising third-place finish on BRC’s opening round. Evans gave us an idea of the key differences between the Yaris and his previous Volkswagen Polo R5.

“I was really happy to get a podium on a rally that had two British Champions and a European Champion starting in front of me,” started the Welshman, “let alone the list of drivers behind me.

“It was always going to be tough and I suppose if we were doing it in the Polo then there would have been more expectancy that we would be fighting for a podium. It was very different though, going to the rally in a new car with a limited amount of time in it.

“But the end result was brilliant – we had no problems, the car had good reliability, and we showed some good speed as well.”

Evans ended the North West Stages with a hat-trick of top three times, including a second-fastest time on its final test. He was only bettered by William Creighton who was hot off a podium on the West Cork Rally a week earlier.

It is no wonder Evans is chuffed with his round one result and the fact he still has more speed to find is giving him even more confidence.

“We are definitely still getting used to the car,” Evans described. “We were starting to feel good with the car on the third stage but of course there was a lot still to come.

“In service, we made some small changes to the car’s set-up but because the weather changed so much it was quite hard to move forward with the set-up and pace of the car.

“The Yaris feels quite natural to drive, it just does some things a bit differently.

“The North West Stages was definitely a positive starting point and I know there is still a lot more time to come from myself in the car and more to find in the set-up.”

Another positive aspect of Evans’ North West weekend was that his Castrol MEM Rally Team secured a dream start to its British Rally Championship campaign. Chris Ingram secured a 27-second victory in the Melvyn Evans Motorsport prepared Volkswagen Polo R5.

Ingram is expected to switch to a Rally2 Yaris once the Welsh outfit receives its second model mid-season. MEM led the way in the UK and Ireland during Volkswagen’s R5 peak, now it looks like it could do the same for Toyota’s equivalent.

But how does Evans compare the two cars?

“The Toyota has some similarities to the Polo,” started the 28-year-old. “One thing that is important for me was that the Polo had such a good front-end and the Yaris seems to be similar.

“If we didn’t have that positive feeling turning into corners then it would be a bit more of a struggle because I have moulded my driving style around that.

“There are still things to adapt to with the chassis – how much suspension travel we have and how it changes the car’s feeling over the bumps. That is more a case of fine-tuning the car to suit what I want.

“The Yaris’s engine gives you power a bit differently but adapting to that was easier than I expected.”

Now Evans’ full focus is on this weekend’s Severn Valley Stages – 100 kilometres of famous Welsh tests like Myherin and Hafren Sweet Lamb.

Having competed mainly on ITRC’s asphalt rallies in recent years, Evans understands a second BRC podium in as many events could be a tough ask.

Still, he is excited to give the Yaris its British gravel debut.

“Gravel is going to be a new challenge, I haven’t got so much experience on gravel in a four-wheel-drive car.

“We did the Wyedean Stages Rally at the end of last year and I was happy with our speed on really tricky stages. We won all five stages then but the competition will be quite a bit higher on the Severn Valley.

“We have to be realistic – if we focus on having a solid drive to build the experience then we will do okay.

“The car looks to be very good on gravel as well so hopefully that will help me along. It is still going to be down to me to adapt quickly and try to be as fast as possible without being silly.

“It is important for us to build a bit of mileage for ourselves and the car’s development.”

The BRC continues its impressive standard of competitors this year with Ingram, Creighton, Osian Pryce, Keith Cronin, Rhys Yates, and Jos Verstappen all featuring amongst a high quality entry.

Photos courtesy of British Rally Championship