Elfyn Evans reclaims WRC lead as Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Islas Canarias
Welsh driver Elfyn Evans has reclaimed the World Rally Championship lead after finishing second behind Sebastien Ogier at Rally Islas Canarias.
The 37-year-old now holds a narrow two-point advantage over Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta following the fifth round of the 14-race season.
He secured his position at the summit by collecting a maximum 10 Sunday bonus points alongside the 17 awarded for his runner-up finish.
Toyota dominate Spanish stages
Eight-time world champion Ogier secured his first victory of the campaign, crossing the line 19.9 seconds ahead of the new championship leader.
Toyota Gazoo Racing completely controlled the asphalt event, locking out the top four positions on the final leaderboard.
Finnish prospect Sami Pajari claimed the final spot on the podium, while Katsuta and his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston finished fourth.
“It has been a solid weekend,” said Evans.
“It was a poor start and that put us out of the fight for the win.
“I have had mixed feelings, but congrats to Seb, he has driven an exceptional weekend.”
Solberg suffers late heartbreak
The Japanese manufacturer had been on course to claim an unprecedented top-five sweep before disaster struck for Oliver Solberg.
The Rally Monte Carlo winner crashed out on the penultimate stage after dominating earlier sessions with six stage victories.
Trailing the leading Frenchman by just two seconds, the 22-year-old was forced to retire his heavily damaged Yaris and left the Spanish island without scoring.
Armstrong faces steep learning curve
Elsewhere, Josh McErlean delivered a respectable eighth-place finish for M-Sport Ford.
His Motorsport Ireland team-mate Jon Armstrong endured a far more bruising encounter to finish 11th in his debut top-flight season.
The Fermanagh native lost more than two minutes on Saturday when spectators were forced to push his stranded car back onto the road.
“It has been quite a challenging weekend, there is no doubt about that,” said the 31-year-old rookie.
“It has taken a long time to get on top of a tyre on this rally.”
“It has not been a great rally, but sometimes you will have worse ones than good ones.”
Looking ahead to Portugal
The teams now have a brief respite before the championship shifts to gravel for round six in Portugal from 7 May.
The top of the provisional drivers’ standings remains incredibly tight as the current season approaches its midway point.
Rally Islas Canarias Top 5
- 1. Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) – 2:43:18.9
- 2. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) – +19.9s
- 3. Sami Pajari (Toyota) – +1m 40.8s
- 4. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) – +1m 51.2s
- 5. Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) – +3m 29.5s
WRC Championship Standings
- 1. Elfyn Evans – 101 points
- 2. Takamoto Katsuta – 99 points
- 3. Sami Pajari – 72 points
- 4. Oliver Solberg – 68 points
- 5. Adrien Fourmaux – 59 points
