DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans has won Rally Finland after to an outstanding weekend of driving with co-driver Scott Martin.

As a result, Evans has kept alive his hopes of catching World Rally Championship leader and team-mate Sébastien Ogier who finished fifth.

With his second win of the season, Evans reduces the gap to championship leader Ogier to 24 points with a maximum of 60 available. In the manufacturers’ championship, Toyota’s lead is increased to 61 points.

Elfyn said: “It feels pretty special to win for the team on its home rally.

“After a difficult rally for me in Estonia on roads with similar characteristics, it feels really good and especially the way we managed to do it.

“We made some changes to the car in our test and I found great confidence with it pretty early on Friday.

“I’m really happy and thankful for the team for all their work, it’s been a great weekend.

“I feel fortunate to have been able to drive this car on these roads, and to take the win is extra special.

“It’s a positive result in terms of the championship.

“The drivers’ title is still a long shot for me, but we’ll keep giving our best on every event.”

In the first Rally Finland to be held for over two years, Elfyn’s Toyota Gazoo Racing team faced strengthened competition on the high-speed gravel roads.

Evans was the team’s best-placed driver at the end of the opening day on Friday in third overall, having produced a strong performance despite running second on the road.

On Saturday morning he surged into the lead with four stage wins out of four, and he took an advantage of 9.1 seconds into the final day.

He was only 0.4s off the fastest time in the first of Sunday’s tests before delivering fastest times in both SS17 and SS18 to increase his margin.

He sealed the win in style with the fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage, claiming the maximum five bonus points.

The result means that the Toyota Yaris WRC – built in the rally’s home city of Jyväskylä – maintains its unbeaten record on its home roads since its debut in 2017.

It is the car’s 25th WRC victory in total, on what was its final gravel event before new technical regulations are introduced for 2022. It’s also the 200th WRC podium for Toyota, which becomes only the third manufacturer to reach the figure.