Elfyn Evans must have found it difficult to imagine how much worse his Saturday could have been. He was forced out of the fight at the front of Secto Rally Finland when his front-right driveshaft broke. As a result, he lost over six minutes maneuvering his struggling GR Yaris Rally1 through one and a half stages. Evans, who had hoped to gain ground on Thierry Neuville in the championship, suddenly found himself barely scoring any points.
There were rumors in the media zone that Evans might be allowed to pass his Toyota teammate Sami Pajari, who was driving a Rally2 car, in order to score more points from Saturday. However, those rumors quickly disappeared when the Toyota mechanics encountered unexpected difficulties in repairing Evans’ Yaris.
Leaving the service 16 minutes late, Evans was penalized with a time penalty of 2 minutes and 40 seconds, pushing him well outside the top-10. Despite his efforts, Evans ended Saturday in 12th place, 29.9 seconds behind a crucial world championship point.
The reason for Evans’ late departure from the service was not related to the transmission issue. According to Toyota technical director Tom Fowler, the front right driveshaft problem caused complications due to the hybrid system installed in the back of the Rally1 car. The exhaust system runs down the right-hand side of the car, and the interaction between the engine, exhaust system, and front right transmission assembly is complex. As a result, some parts of the exhaust needed to be replaced, which proved challenging due to the nature of exhaust systems. These systems experience significant temperature variations throughout the day, which can make them difficult to work on. The replacement was necessary for safety reasons, as the exhaust is a critical component of the car.
Fowler described the driveshaft failure as a surprising development that Toyota had never encountered before. He explained that a driveshaft is made up of multiple components, and the specific piece that caused the issue was not expected to be a problem. Toyota has different categories for reliability, with some parts being inherently reliable and others requiring regular monitoring and maintenance. The failed driveshaft falls into the category of parts that are designed to handle all expected scenarios. It is currently a mystery why it failed, and further investigation is needed to determine the cause. Possible reasons could include manufacturing issues or something that occurred during the stage that is not yet known. Regardless, it is a surprising and disappointing situation for Toyota.
Photo by Elfyn Evans Instagram
