Early WRC lead 'doesn't mean a huge amount'
Elfyn Evans says he's not getting carried away following his promising start to the World Rally Championship (WRC) season.The Welshman has a 36-point lead after the first three rounds following back-to-back victories.After winning Rally Sweden in February, the 36-year-old was also victorious in Safari Rally Kenya in March.He also finished second behind Sébastien Ogier in Rally Monte Carlo on the opening weekend of the season."It's definitely been a decent start," Evans told BBC Sport Wales."Everything's worked well in the first three rounds, but we also know it's very, very early in the season and it doesn't mean a huge amount at this stage."But of course we have to take the points while we can."
It was Evans' first victory in Kenya after podium finishes in 2022 and 2023.It's considered to be one of the most challenging rallies in the Championship due to it's rugged terrain and unpredictable weather."It's an iconic rally, it's one of the classics. And this year it was an especially tough edition. There was a lot of endurance involved," Evans added."It's always a funny feeling when you win an endurance event, you don't somehow get the same buzz as you get when you win one of the rallies where you're flat out from start to finish. "At the same time to win a rally like that is still something special."
Evans has finished runner-up in the Championship in four of the last five years. His only victory last year came in the final rally of the season in Japan, as he ended up 32 points behind the eventual winner Thierry Neuville. "The results towards the end of last season and the start of this season have been good. But in any type of sport there's always challenges. We have to keep focused," Evans said."There's a string of seven gravel rallies coming up, and we know that being early on the road for those rallies is often a difficult place to be. "When you have such a long string of them in the crucial mid-part of the season it's very easy to lose ground. "The lead we've built up at the moment really doesn't mean too much. It's a case of having to continue to focus on doing the best we can in each rally."Round four of the 14-race calendar is the Rally Islas Canarias from 24-27 April.
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