How Britain's Evans defied history to join rallying greats

Elfyn Evans, the 37‑year‑old driver from north Wales, secured his first World Rally Championship title after a dramatic finish on the Sardinian stage. At 3.05pm on Sunday, Evans watched as his rival Oliver Solberg veered off the road with just two corners remaining, hand Evans his archetypal satellite title. The win ended a streak of five previous runner‑up finishes, three of which had been decided on the final stage and two after Evans had held the lead going into the decider. At 3.06pm, the momentum shifted in Evans’s favour, and Solberg’s mistake handed the Briton the championship. Only two British men have taken the title since the WRC’s 1977 inception, matching the exploits of Colin McRae (1995) and Richard Burns (2001). Evans’s victory makes him the first British champion in 25 years. Louise Aitken‑Walker was Britain’s earliest title holder, having won a women’s WRC event in 1990.