DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans will be aiming to build on his team Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally’s positive start to the FIA World Rally Championship’s new hybrid era when the 2022 season resumes for round three at the Croatia Rally on 22-24 April.

The team currently leads the manufacturers’ championship with Kalle Rovanperä heading the drivers’ standings after claiming the first victory for the GR YARIS Rally1 on the previous round in Sweden in February.

Elfyn Evans has been among the pacesetters so far and will be keen to get back on the podium in Croatia, where he was part of a thrilling final-stage showdown with team-mate Sébastien Ogier when the country made its WRC debut one year ago.

With the event not forming part of Ogier’s programme of selected rallies for 2022, Esapekka Lappi again completes the TGR WRT line-up after finishing third on his comeback in Sweden. Fourth in Sweden was Takamoto Katsuta, who continues his full campaign with TGR WRT Next Generation on a rally he claimed two stage wins on in 2021.

After the two winter rounds in Monte Carlo and Sweden, Croatia provides the first pure asphalt test for the new Rally1 cars. The event is based out of the capital city Zagreb with the stages taking place close to neighbouring Slovenia. The roads are characterised by a wide variety of different asphalt types, meaning grip levels are constantly changing. Many sections are fast and flowing and include jumps and crests, while others are more technical and twisting.

Following shakedown on Thursday morning and a ceremonial start in Zagreb in the evening, the rally begins on Friday with the longest leg of the event, consisting of two loops of four stages all familiar from the 2021 event. Much of Saturday takes place in similar territory just to the south-west of Zagreb, but there is also a longer trip towards the Adriatic coast near Rijeka for the new Platak stage. As on Friday, all four stages are repeated after midday service. The final day takes place to the north of the capital and includes another new stage, Trakošćan – Vrbno, which is run twice together with Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec, host to the rally-ending Power Stage.

Evans said: “It’s been quite a long break since the last rally so it’s been good to get back in the car for some testing and to get ready for Croatia. For me it has not been the start to the year that we wanted by a long way and we need to look forward and focus on performing in the coming events.

“Croatia is not an easy rally but it was a good one for us last year and hopefully we can have a strong run again. There are some things from last year that we have tried to learn from so that we have a car that’s suited to all of the different conditions. On our test we had a particularly slippery road that’s similar to what we’ll face on the rally, and that was a good place to work through some options.”