DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans is concerned about the challenges of running first on Rally de Portugal’s gravel roads.

The FIA World Rally Championship leader is looking to build on his best ever start to a season which has seen him 43 points clear of Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Kalle Rovanperä.

Evans has finished on the podium at all four rounds so far — including victories in Sweden and Safari Rally Kenya and has now recorded seven consecutive podiums, a streak that began with second place at Rally Chile last September.

The 36-year-old said: “After a good start to the season we’re now entering a sequence of gravel events where, as championship leader, it can be challenging running first on the road on the Friday if it’s dry.

“My recent testing on gravel has been in the wet, so preparation has not been ideal, but the feeling was good in Kenya and even if the rallies we’re heading into are quite different to that, I’m confident we can start them in a stronger place than where we were last year.

“Portugal has some great stages that are fun to drive, so we’ll be looking to enjoy them and even if road cleaning is a factor, we also want to aim for a strong run through Sunday to keep scoring as many points as we can.”

Toyota begin a trio of demanding gravel events in southern Europe at Rally de Portugal on 15-18 May hoping to continue its unbeaten start to the season.

The team has so far won four rounds held in four very different conditions, culminating in a dominant performance on the smooth asphalt roads of Rally Islas Canarias where it achieved a 1-2-3-4 finish.

Having claimed maximum manufacturers’ points on three of the four events, the team leads the championship by 51 points.

Now it is preparing to enter a run of seven consecutive rallies on gravel.

The first three, in Portugal, Sardinia and Greece, feature similar characteristics to one another with rough and rocky roads combined with the potential for high temperatures, testing cars, tyres and crews.

Of the three rallies, Portugal has relatively faster albeit still technical roads and a softer, sandier surface, which can become rocky and rutted for the second pass.

For these upcoming rallies, the GR YARIS Rally1 takes on a cool new look for summer with the usual black swapped for a lighter silver colour scheme. The new colour helps to keep the car and crews cooler between stages by reflecting more of the heat from the sun.

TGR-WRT can count on a strong five-car line-up for this event, with three previous winners in Portugal nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points

Evans won the rally in 2021 and leads the drivers’ standings by 43 points over team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, who tasted victory in both 2022 and 2023.

Sébastien Ogier claimed a record sixth Portugal win in 2024. Takamoto Katsuta has also performed well in Portugal previously while TGR-WRT2 driver Sami Pajari has won there in Junior WRC.

Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala: “The stages in Portugal are enjoyable to drive but tyre management can be key if it’s hot and dry, especially on Friday’s harder roads.

“With Elfyn we’ll also face the challenge of opening the road, but this comes from how well he’s been driving and his confidence is high.”