Last year’s championship runner-up was forced to sit out December’s FIA prize giving in Baku after injuring his ribs when he came off his bike in the days prior to the ceremony. As a result, Evans missed out on some running in Finland last month while he completed his recovery.
“I’m sorry I can’t attend the FIA prize giving in Baku tonight and celebrate the end of the 2023 season," read a statement issued by Evans on social media last month. "Unfortunately, I came off my bike some days ago and injured my ribs and have been advised not to fly. I hope everyone has a good night especially my TGR team-mates who are collecting quite a few awards tonight."
The Welshman is however set to return to the wheel of his GR Yaris and will join up with the world championship winning squad for next week’s test ahead of the season opener in Monte Carlo from 25-28 January.
“We haven’t made any changes to the [test] schedule,” said Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala when speaking with WRC.com.
“The plan is the same, Elfyn will test with the rest of the drivers. He did miss some driving in Finland last month, but this was more of an opportunity for the drivers to get some early Sweden running in when we had good conditions in Finland.
“I don’t think he missed so much. Taka [Katsuta] was able to use his day, so we still got some time with the car. Now Elfyn can come back to the pre-event test and make sure he is ready for the start of the season.”
After missing out on the 2023 title to team-mate Kalle Rovanpera, Evans, who matched Rovanpera’s win tally during last year’s campaign, is expected to be among the favourites for the 2024 championship with his bid further boosted by Rovanpera’s decision to only contest a partial campaign.
Toyota is expected to field three Rally1 entries for Monte Carlo, with Evans joined by Takamoto Katsuta and record Monte Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier.
