Mid Wales' Evans gunning for rally history against team-mates
Mid Wales rally star Elfyn Evans believes the WRC Rally Championship is still wide open - despite the Welshman leading the standings and closing in on history with two races to go.
The 36-year-old from Dolgellau is currently top of the drivers' championship and after four near misses where he has finished runner up - he has the chance to become the first British driver since 2001 and the first Welshman ever to win the crown.
A British driver has not won since Richard Burns back in 2001 - but despite leading with two races to go, he insists that the championship race is still very open after what he has called 'an up and down season'.
Anything can happen in sport but rallying is in particular quite unpredictable," said Evans who made his debut in the championship 14 years ago back in 2011.
"It's nice to be back on top, but it doesn't mean too much. The points are very close between three of us heading into the final two rounds.
"I have no expectation for the end of the year, only to try our best, of course, the goal is to try and win."
Evans heads into the penultimate round in Japan, which takes place this weekend. He has 247 points, which is 13 ahead of team mates Kalle Rovanpera and eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier.He has fallen short in recent years against his two Toyota Gazoo Racing colleagues, with the duo pair between them winning the championship in four of the past five years.
And having finished second in four of those previous five campaigns, Evans is approaching the climax to the season with caution.
Ahead of the race in Japan, Evans said: "It's very easy to make even the smallest mistake, which normally goes very harshly punished in Japan, so it's a rally where we're going to need to be as accurate as possible."
The former Seat and Ford driver's team, Toyota, having already won the manufacturers title for the fifth straight year with the three drivers now doing battle to win the competition.
And Evans has described how there is a competitive rivalry between them all.
He said: "We all get on fairly well in the team," he explained.
"Rallying is quite unique in that we're racing against the clock rather than physically against each other on track.
"That normally means we get on a bit better in the background and the team has a very good atmosphere on the whole.
"Everything is shared among the drivers, so everything is very open and we tend to try and race it out on the stages, so normally we get on pretty well."