"After Rally Queensland, where we had two mechanical issues, the entire team and I were disheartened," admitted Evans.
It was a hard pill to swallow for the highly competitive Victorian driver who had pronounced at the season launch that reliability would form the cornerstone of the team's assault on the title.
Apart from a late puncture Evans and co-driver Glen Weston were able to wrestle the high-revving Honda Civic Type R onto the podium in South Australia.
"South Australia was great for the team, enabling us to bounce back and really show that this car is capable of top placings," said Evans.
"It also means now that we have a result to show the bosses at Honda!" he added.
Evans had been given strict commands to recapture the form he showed in the Civic Type R during last year's Australian Rally Championship.
Openly admitting that the front-drive Civic is unable to directly challenge the unrestricted Mitsubishi's of Justin Dowel, Steven Shepheard and Mark Pedder, Eli remains determined to keep snapping at their heels in case they suffer mechanical issues or problems.
"We were there ready to pounce all weekend in Adelaide, and when Steve Shepheard and Mark Pedder both had problems we capitalized," said Evans.
"We'll go to Rally Australia next month looking to go one better and to hopefully start putting some pressure on those guys in more powerful cars ahead of us and see if we can make them crack."
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