Jaguar's Evans: 'I consider myself a favourite and a real threat'

As a title contender in the final race last season, Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans saw his hopes of World Championship glory torn away from him at the last after a technical issue in the final round of Season 7 prevented him from even getting off the line to race for the title proper.

A shattering blow, but the 27-year-old New Zealander is putting that behind him and is ready to fight back in the new season.

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“We had a really critical qualifying, which we executed well and put ourselves in a great position, then for it to be over in a flash was, really, really bizarre because I was obviously quite geared up for the race," says Evans on that Berlin finale.

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“It was hard to know how to how to fail and it probably took a little while, like a few hours after the race for it to sink in. You go through waves of emotions that that are hard to accept, especially with so much at stake.

“It's just the nature of sport. You have to be able to cope with that adversity and those down moments. I say they make you stronger, I guess we'll find out.”

Looking ahead to Season 8, Evans is ready to make his mark right from the off as a title contender after two seasons of increasing promise. He's been fighting at the sharp end for a while, and he knows he can be among those vying for top spot come the final chequered flag of the season in Seoul.

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“I definitely consider myself a favourite, you know, I do believe in myself, I'm sure I've shown that over the last few years. I am a real contender, a real threat, but there’s is a lot of things in the background that have stopped me from achieving a championship.

"A double-header is a blessing and a curse. If you can make it work, you can score big. If not, then it's a missed opportunity. You can walk away with a lot of runs on the board.

“We’ve got to come out of the blocks firing. I just want to execute a really clinical year and hopefully I can achieve that.”