Elfyn Evans has vowed to give fans plenty to cheer about when he drives a World Rally Car for the first time on his home event in Wales next month.
The Welshman promised to continue attacking in the final two rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship in Spain and Britain, events in which he gained vital experience last year in a WRC 2 car.
Evans’ season has been focused on accumulating knowledge of rallies that were new to him, but at Rallye de France-Alsace (2 - 5 October) M-Sport team boss Malcolm Wilson have him the green light to step-up his pace.
He powered his Ford Fiesta RS into fourth until alternator failure plunged him down the leaderboard. But he charged back to finish sixth and has pledged to continue pushing at Rally RACC Rally de España (23 - 26 October) and Wales Rally GB (13 - 16 November).
“Australia was the last new event for us so I’ve got experience of the final two rallies and there’s less pressure now to make sure we finish every event. It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t finish,” said Evans.
“However, it’s still a learning year and it’s important to remember that. I have the freedom to experiment a bit and enjoy myself but I still need to learn and progress and you don’t really do that when you are stopped on the first stage. Hopefully we can have a good strong result on the last two events.”
Evans acknowledged his home fans would provide a big incentive at Wales Rally GB.
“We were here for the first time in this region last year with a WRC 2 car and we had tremendous support. If we can have something similar again this year, it’s sure to give us a spur,” he added.