After enduring five previous runner-up finishes in the FIA World Rally Championship, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin finally captured their first world titles in Sardinia on Sunday, ending one of the longest waits in recent WRC history. Relief and joy were naturally part of the aftermath, but true to form, Evans immediately looked back at the wider arc of his campaign rather than just the final weekend.
“I don’t really know what it feels like, to be honest,” he said. “I think it’s a bit of relief, a bit of happiness, a bit of joy. I’m not that proud of my last events of the season somehow. But, of course, it wasn’t won here. It was the season’s work.”
As soon as he was off the road, he was celebrating. I was like, ‘Well, let’s just wait a second.’ A lot of people were more convinced than me, especially early on.
That championship journey began months ago with second place at Rallye Monte-Carlo, followed quickly by a victory in Sweden that handed Evans the early lead in the standings. Tougher rounds in Kenya and Croatia tested the crew, but consistent points finishes kept them in the hunt. After taking second place in the Canary Islands, Evans reclaimed the top spot in the standings and refused to relinquish it for the rest of the year. A podium in Portugal preceded one of his strongest drives of the campaign in Japan, where he secured his second victory of the season.
Things got complicated during the summer months. Running first on the road handed Evans unfavorable conditions on several gravel rallies, while rivals Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg chipped away at his advantage with strong results. Still, Evans kept scoring points wherever he could. He managed fifth in Greece, sixth in Estonia, a return to the podium in Finland, and fourth in Paraguay. Then came Chile, where a damaged tyre on the penultimate stage dropped him from second to fifth place. Solberg took the rally win, cutting Evans' championship margin even further. “I think we were pretty unlucky with what happened in Chile,” Evans noted.
It was simply the latest hurdle in a career defined by agonizing title near-misses. In 2020, Evans arrived at the Monza finale with a 14-point lead before sliding off the road in snowy conditions, losing the crown to Sébastien Ogier. He finished as runner-up again the following year, repeated the feat in 2023 and 2024, and then missed out by just four points in 2025.
This time, the script finally changed. Evans arrived in Sardinia holding a 17-point cushion over Pajari and sitting 21 points ahead of Solberg, with all three mathematically in the hunt. Opening the road on Friday proved difficult from the start, and Solberg grabbed the rally lead on Saturday to pile on the pressure. By Sunday, the championship battle was razor-thin. A puncture on the penultimate stage forced Evans to stop and change a wheel, costing him around two minutes and destroying any chance of scoring Super Sunday points.
Everything came down to the final Wolf Power Stage. Evans made it through cleanly, while Solberg—pushing desperately for the result he needed—crashed out just two corners from the finish line. Only then did the reality of the championship sink in. Even his father Gwyndaf started celebrating early. “He was far too keen on the celebrations,” Evans laughed. “As soon as he was off the road, he was celebrating. I was like, ‘Well, let’s just wait a second.’ A lot of people were more convinced than me, especially early on.”
Even after returning to the finish, the scale of the achievement took time to register. “I’m not the kind of guy to get too excited anyway,” he said. “But it’s pretty cool.”
