DOLGELLAU driver Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were firmly in the fight for the Rally Poland win for much of the weekend with a strong performance.

They were only 0.4seconds behind their Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mates Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen on Saturday lunchtime, before suffering a tyre issue in the first stage of the afternoon loop that cost them several seconds and dropped them to third place.

Evans reclaimed second on Sunday morning as he pushed to maximise their Sunday score, though he would sustain a tyre deflation in the Power Stage that left him seventh-quickest there and fourth in the Super Sunday classification.

Nonetheless, he reduces the gap to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, the leader of the drivers’ championship, to 15 points.

Evans said: “At the end of the rally our overall position is good.

“The Sunday points are almost just as important and we tried to get as many as we could today.

”It was all going OK, but unfortunately we had an issue in the Power Stage with a puncture: there was a rock on the line and there was not a lot I could do.

“We only lost a few seconds, but with this points system a small issue like that can penalise you a lot, so it was disappointing to finish the rally this way.

“Our speed this weekend was not bad: Friday was good with the road position we had and Saturday was also going well until the tyre issue. It’s definitely the case that the feeling in the car is much better than in the previous rallies.

“We need to carry that forward, build on what we learned here and look to do a good job in Latvia.”

Rovanperä took a remarkable victory after his late call-up to Rally Poland, leading a Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team one-two finish ahead of Evans.

Having never competed there previously, Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were not originally due to include Poland’s first FIA World Rally Championship round since 2017 on their partial programme this season.

That was until Tuesday this week when they received the call to stand in for their team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, who were unable to take part after they were unfortunately involved in a road traffic collision during reconnaissance.

Without any pre-event test or the other preparation typically carried out by WRC crews before an event, the reigning world champions undertook an intense recce schedule during Wednesday and Thursday to make pacenotes for the fast gravel stages, while three runs in shakedown were their only chance to get up to speed in the GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid before the start.

What's next? Rally Latvia (18-21 July) is a brand-new event for the WRC, featuring more high-speed gravel roads.

While the service park is located in the southern coastal city of Liepāja, the rally will begin from the capital city Riga.