DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans is hoping previous experience will pay off as the World Rally Championship returns to asphalt roads at the Ypres Rally Belgium this weekend.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver sits fourth in the championship standings going into the ninth round in Belgium on 19 to 21 August but it is his teammate, Finnish driver Kalle Rovanperä who could claim the title this weekend.

After finishing second on home soil at Rally Finland, Rovanperä has a lead of 94 points and an outside chance of claiming a historic first title with four rounds to spare should he win in Belgium.

Last year, on the WRC’s first visit to Belgium, Rovanperä finished third as the rally’s best debutant, just ahead of Evans, who hopes that experience will put him and his team in good stead for the rally’s notoriously challenging stages.

“Ypres is a unique event, and completely different to our recent rallies,” he said. “Even compared to the last asphalt round in Croatia, the demands are quite different. There’s a lot of long straights and junctions, which sounds straightforward on paper but in reality it’s far from it.

“There’s a lot of surface changes, the roads are often very narrow and bumpy in places, and the braking from very high speed into the junctions is critical.

“Those who had previous experience showed the value of that last year, and this year we went into our pre-event test knowing a bit more what to expect and what we need from the car. So I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala added: “Ypres is a challenging and fast asphalt rally, with a lot of heavy braking, many cuts and lots of dirt coming onto the road. If there’s rain it can be very slippery, and the drivers need to be able to read the road all of the time to judge how the grip is changing.

“We are much better prepared this year with the experience we gained last year. We understand the nature of the rally and we have tested on more suitable roads. So I think we will be more competitive and can challenge for the victory.”

Although the Ypres Rally is a recent addition to the WRC schedule, the event is considered a classic of the European rally calendar. Its reputation is built on its fast and narrow farmland roads around the West Flanders region, which are often lined by large drainage ditches and include many junctions where dirt is frequently dragged onto the road.

Unlike last year there will be no trip east to Spa-Francorchamps, with all three days of the rally to take place within a 30km radius from the city of Ypres, which hosts the service park in its historic centre.

An anti-clockwise loop of four stages is run twice on Friday, before a similar route with more competitive distance on Saturday. Two stages are repeated either side of final service to form Sunday’s itinerary, with the well-known Kemmelberg to host the rally-ending Power Stage.