Among the casualties of the baked gravel roads was another Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera, who finished outside the top 10.

“It’s been a tough weekend, didn’t really have the pace we wanted,” said 36-year-old Evans.

“We had to get to the end to get something, so could be worse.”

Welshman Evans had built up an unprecedented 36-point lead after the first three rallies of the year, placing second behind Ogier in Monte Carlo before winning in Sweden and Kenya.

His French team-mate has now won four of this season’s seven events and collected 10 bonus points in Greece, winning both Super Sunday and the powerstage, but the 41-year-old will skip the next round on the high-speed forest roads of Estonia.

“I think we’ve had a super strong weekend,” Ogier said.

“There wasn’t much we could do to Ott – he was really flying.”

Ireland’s Josh McErlean was another beset by struggles, suffering a puncture on Friday and damaging his suspension and breaking a driveshaft on Saturday.

He finished 12th in his M-Sport Ford Puma.

“It took sheer determination from the team, because every service there was some job,” said McErlean.

“Hopefully it gets a bit easier from here in Estonia and Finland.”

England’s Gus Greensmith was one of several WRC2 drivers who claimed top-10 finishes.

Round eight of the 14-event WRC series, Delfi Rally Estonia, runs from 17-20 July.