Elfyn Evans’ World Rally Championship bid has suffered a blow after a crash forced him out of the Rally Portugal.
The Welshman’s Toyota GR Yaris was damaged after running off the road on Friday’s Mortagua stage seven.
“Our Rally Portugal has ended early, after the @TGR_WRC team inspected the damage to the car, it was decided to retire from the event,” Evans tweeted.
“Very disappointed and a little stiff this morning (Saturday) but we will reset and move on.”
Thanks to his previous win in Croatia, Evans had begun the Rally Portugal level on points at the top of the Championship standings with Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who is not competing this weekend.
But after Friday’s crash and an overnight inspection of the car, Toyota decided the damage was too bad to allow Evans and co-driver Scott Martin to continue.
