Meirion Evans has quietly built one of the strongest campaigns of the 2026 British Rally Championship, and now the Welshman stands one rally away from the biggest prize of his career.
There was never supposed to be anything quiet about the 2026 British Rally Championship, but while the headlines have often belonged to Osian Pryce’s and Max McRae’s victories, Meirion Evans has gone about his business in a rather different way: consistency.
But it’s that consistency that has put him right in the middle of the title fight, and after taking a spectacular win on Sunday at Rali Ceredigion, with a pace that challenged the visiting ERC regulars, he is now one of the hottest prospects to become British Rally Champion.
Evans and co-driver Dale Furniss head to the Lewis & Hunter Cambrian Rally just two points away from championship leader McRae, with Pryce completing an extraordinary three-way fight for the British Rally Championship crown.
Three drivers; one final rally. And Evans has been here before.
Twelve months ago, the Lampeter driver arrived at the final round still mathematically in contention for the BRC title, eventually finishing third in the championship as teammate William Creighton took the crown, but this time, he returns to North Wales with an even bigger opportunity.
The Castrol MEM Rally Team driver began the season with a podium on the Severn Valley Stages before repeating the result on the Jim Clark Rally. At Grampian, he added another podium, finishing just 1.3 seconds behind McRae after a thrilling battle for second.
Evans went into Ceredigion third in the standings but still firmly within reach of the championship lead. The double-header format gave him two opportunities to close the gap, and he took full advantage of the second.
After finishing third in Saturday’s BRC contest, Evans and Furniss produced exactly what the situation demanded on Sunday; a win. With the championship pressure firmly on, the Welsh pairing delivered maximum points, while McRae finished second and Pryce retired with a gearbox problem.
“We knew it would be all cards on the table for the championship; we had to win one of these days, and we managed to do that,” Evans said afterwards. “We’ll give it a good go’.
That is perhaps the perfect description of Evans’ title challenge.
Evans’ progression over the last few seasons, especially on gravel has also made this title bid feel like a natural next step.
Once regarded primarily as an asphalt specialist, the 30-year-old has developed into a highly competitive gravel driver too, something he demonstrated particularly strongly during 2025. He went into last year’s Cambrian Rally fighting for victory, before ending the season as championship runner-up.
Now he returns to the same part of Wales with unfinished business and after coming so close in 2025, he has earned another shot.
