Elfyn Evans brings world rally crown home to Wales

Elfyn Evans is the world rally champion. He sealed the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, a season-long series of timed races on closed roads, at Rally Italia Sardegna alongside co-driver Scott Martin. It is a first world title for both men, per official championship reporting. WRC

He is the first Welsh driver to take the crown. Evans comes from Dinas Mawddwy in Gwynedd, and before this year he had finished runner-up in the championship five times. BBC

Five near misses. Then number one.

The homecoming matched the wait. Hundreds of supporters gave Evans a hero's welcome at a celebration in his home county on Thursday, 15 October. The gathering in Eldon Square in Dolgellau was billed as a Welcome Home celebration to mark the title. DirtFish

Evans made an entrance. He drove his Toyota world rally car, a purpose-built four-wheel-drive competition machine, on the road from Dinas Mawddwy to the stage in Dolgellau. Fans crowded in once he arrived, and he stopped for autographs and photographs.

Earlier in the day he had called at his old school. Evans visited Ysgol Bro Idris on Thursday to meet pupils and teachers before heading to Dolgellau for the main event.

Wales' First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth was among those in Dolgellau for the celebration. Evans took him for a passenger ride during a driving exhibition around the town's main car park, with tight turns and short bursts of speed for the crowd watching on.

In rallying the co-driver sits alongside and calls the corners, reading detailed pace notes at speed. Martin has been that voice for Evans through the long chase for the title, and Sardinia finally closed the job.

Rallying runs in the family. Evans is the son of Gwyndaf Evans, himself a former rally driver and a familiar name on British stages. The younger Evans grew up around the sport, learning its rhythms long before factory teams and world rounds.

What makes this stand out is how close to home it stayed. This was not a parade in a capital city. It was a village road, a school visit, a car park turned into a stage. That fits a sport still built on volunteers, forest tracks and service halts in the rain.