Elfyn Evans frustrated with WRC points system after Rally Croatia: He received less than fourth-placed Tänak for second place in the overall standings
Elfyn Evans felt “zero reward” for his second place at the Rally Croatia due to the new points system for the 2024 World Rally Championship. The Toyota driver was one of the biggest critics of the new points system and questioned it again after his second place behind teammate Sebastien Ogier.
Evans collected 19 points this weekend: 15 for his second place on Saturday, three for the “Super Sunday” classification and one for the Power Stage. He therefore collected the same number of points as his title rival Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who finished third and remains six points ahead of the Toyota driver in the WRC standings.
Ott Tänak (Hyundai), who was never able to intervene in the three-way battle for the lead between Evans, Ogier and Neuville and finished the rally in fourth place, scored 20 points, one more than Evans. Tänak collected ten points after his fourth place on Saturday, but scored six points for his second place in the Sunday classification and four points for the Power Stage.
Having fought a thrilling battle for victory with Neuville and Ogier throughout the rally, Evans felt a little robbed of the reward for his efforts after crossing the finish line.
Ogier and Röhrl also criticize new points rule
“Of course I was happy about it [the close battle with Neuville], but in the end, even though we had a mega weekend, I don’t feel rewarded because of the new points rule,” Evans told Autosport,
“It took Adrien [Fourmaux] 15 minutes to change his handlebars and he scored 13 points, we scored 19 and Ott scored 20. It’s hard to feel happy and on the podium you can see that everyone is in the same boat,” Evans is annoyed.
The Toyota driver is not alone in his criticism. Team-mate Ogier had already declared at the start of the season that the new regulations “made no sense” to him. Rally legend Walter Röhrl doesn’t like it either. “When I hear what they’ve done with the points system in the World Rally Championship, it tears me apart!”
