Expert Opinion: Which WRC star will tame the Canary Islands’ unknown?

The World Rally Championship will embrace an all-new challenge with the Canary Islands hosting the fourth round of the 2025 season this week.

The Spanish island’s fast, flowing and technical asphalt roads will grace the WRC calendar for the first time, creating the potential for a levelling of the playing field this week.

From the Rally1 field only Hyundai duo Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, Toyota’s Sami Pajari and M-Sport-Ford pair Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean have limited previous experience of the event.

Could Rally Islas Canarias create a surprise or will Toyota’s championship leader Elfyn Evans extend his streak of wins to three?  

To find out, DAZN spoke to legendary WRC television commentator Becs Williams for an expert opinion on the form book.

• Read next I  WRC Rally Islas Canarias as close to circuit racing as rallying gets

Could the Canary Islands deliver a wide open victory battle?

“I think it is wide open, I love it when we have brand new events on the calendar. There are just a handful of drivers from the top level who have been there before.

"The rally is similar to what they have experienced in the past, obviously it is an island, so they don’t have a huge amount of roads there.

"They have lengthened and changed the stages from what they have seen previously, but they will have an understanding of the nature of stages. Is that an advantage? Probably only a slight one if we are brutally honest and I think it is a level playing field going in. 

“I think it is exciting because after three specialist rounds to kick off the year, we now go to something that is completely traditional in a full tarmac event, and the only potential surprise could be the weather. The temperatures can hove around 20 degrees at the coastline but up in the mountains it can be foggy and damp.

"It could be a real spice bag when it comes to tyre choice and not having that ultimate knowledge of the brand new tyre and how it is going to work, there are so many elements that will make Rally Islas Canarias fascinating.”

 

Does Neuville have the edge, having won the last new WRC asphalt rally in 2023?

“I don’t know. The Central European Rally that Neuville won in 2023 is more tuned to the tarmac he would be experiencing at home.

"The Canary Islands is a different beast entirely. It can be flowing and very twisty in parts. I don’t think looking at drivers that have won brand new events, that it is going to be one of those. I think it could throw a real curveball, and for the people that like tarmac, and Thierry does, he will be one of the favourites and again, our championship leader, Elfyn Evans.

"His favourite surface. He absolutely loves tarmac rallying, and it is one of his strengths, so for the third time in a row, I’m looking at Elfyn to do exceptionally well. 

“Thierry knows that he really must start the fightback in the championship, and already the mind games are being played with him, saying that 36 points is not that much of a gap to Elfyn. I think all the drivers will start to get into Elfyn’s head now.

"Thierry and Elfyn both did Rally Sierra Morena in Spain earlier this month, and although it is a different event, the feedback that would have given them on the Hankook tyres will give them an advantage and one up on everybody else.”

Bec Williams

Keep an eye on Ogier and Fourmaux 

“We all know that eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier’s tarmac prowess is undisputed. But I think that he is not match fit in the sense that he is not doing every rally, and we certainly saw that come into play last year, where he wasn’t maybe right at the top of his game.

"It will be fascinating to see how quick he will be able to get back up to speed and on a tarmac event that is certainly more aggressive and unforgiving compared to gravel events. You have to have that ultimate confidence on tarmac, whereas maybe on a gravel event you can get away with making a mistake.

“All the stars could align and come into focus for Adrien Fourmaux, who won the 2020 European Rally Championship round in the Canary islands. It has been a difficult last two events for Fourmaux, and I think that now he can really knuckle down and use the fact that he has experience on the island. He understands what the stages are like and what the weather can potentially do at this time of year.

"There is no reason why he can’t do it. Out of all the drivers, he has the strongest advantage in terms of prior knowledge and the winning factor.” 

 

Could Munster offer a surprise for M-Sport-Ford? 

“I think there is a chance for Gregoire Munster, and again, he has experience of the event himself and his confidence is growing and growing with each event.

"I think Gregoire is bit of a different driver this year. The full experience of 2024 has been confidence-building, and you can see he has his targets and he knows what he wants to aim for. There is no over ego and he knows how to steadily gain pace through a rally.

"He will try to string all that together to get as close to the podium as possible. But I think it is going to be difficult to get onto podium because there are so many strong tarmac drivers.”

 

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