Will the APRC see one of it’s former champions return the fold? Former APRC Formula 2 champion Simon Evans raised the topic in an interview this week with Motorsport News.

Suddenly out of a drive for ’09, following the withdrawal from Toyota from the Australian Rally Championship, the two-time Australian champion is keen to move back into the international APRC series.

“I would love to step up another level now, and look for something in the Asia Pacific Championship”, Evans admitted to MNews. “But I think that it is too late for this year. But it is not too late to start talking to people for 2010 and beyond”.

After gaining the APRC F2 title in 2000, Simon and co-driver wife Sue have focused thieir attentions on the Australian championship. One of the most popular drivers in the series, Simon also gained the reputation as one of the hardest-charging privateers in the ARC before signing on with the Toyota factory squad in 2004. It was in the Group N(P) Corolla that Evans again tasted championship victory, claiming the Australian title in 2006 and 2007, and just beaten for second place by younger brother Eli last year.

Next week will see Simon and Sue back in the Super 2000 Corolla for Rally Tasmania, the opening round of the ARC ’09 season. Without Toyota support, the Neal Bates team is trying to secure sponsorship to give the S2000 Corollas a proper send-off (at least for now).

Photos courtesy of Linear Photographs and TRD.