ELFYN Evans is looking to bounce back after a frustrating time at Rally de Portugal on another tough gravel event in the FIA World Rally Championship at Rally Italia Sardegna on 5-8 June.

In Portugal, the Dolgellau driver and co-driver Scott Martin finished sixth overall and took fifth on Super Sunday to secure valuable points from a challenging weekend after sweeping the road through Friday.

Evans continues to lead the drivers’ championship by 30 points over Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mates Kalle Rovanperä with Sébastien Ogier a further two points back. TGR-WRT increased its manufacturers’ championship lead to 55 points.

Evans said: “After a bit of a frustrating rally in Portugal we certainly want to be stronger in Sardinia.

“It’s a similar rally in some ways and maybe a bit more demanding in others.

“We will also have the challenge again of running first on the road on Friday, although the more typical schedule should hopefully help in that respect.

“We’re still looking for some more performance on this type of rally, and with the limited testing available it’s not easy to find an immediate solution, but we’re going to give it our best like always and try to come away with as many points as we can.”

The team will be looking to continue its current winning run having claimed five victory from the first five rounds of 2025.

While the gravel tracks on the Italian island of Sardinia can appear similar on paper to those in Portugal, the event usually provides an even more demanding challenge, beginning with temperatures that can exceed 30 degrees centigrade and punish cars, crews and tyres.

The stages are narrower and more technical, with little margin for error, while the sandy surface is soon swept away by each passing car to expose a rocky and abrasive base.

A quartet of silver GR YARIS Rally1 cars will once again be entered by TGR-WRT, with Evans, Rovanperä and Ogier nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points and Takamoto Katsuta at the wheel of a fourth car. Sami Pajari drives a fifth car entered under the TGR-WRT2 banner.

The rally’s base alternates back from Alghero to Olbia this year with all the action to take place around the north-east of the island.

The first two days on Friday and Saturday each total just over 120 competitive kilometres across a loop of three stages run either side of mid-day service in Olbia.

Two new stages are driven twice to form Sunday’s finale, with a final service preceding the second pass of Porto San Paolo which serves as the rally-ending Power Stage.

Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said: “Portugal was a good result for our team overall but we know that we face another challenge in Sardinia.

“The stages there have a very hard base covered with a layer of fine sand, which can be very slippery for the first cars on the road.

“With Elfyn, Kalle and Seb at the top of the standings, we have to be prepared that Friday could be a challenging start.

“It’s been a very good season for us so far, but the competition is fast and we are realistic that we cannot win every rally.

Still, we can be confident that our car is strong and reliable and we will be aiming for another good team result.”