Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin won two of this season’s first three rallies
Elfyn Evans’ lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC) was cut as Sebastien Ogier won Rally de Portugal for a seventh time.
Welshman Evans, 36, could only finish sixth, more than two minutes behind Toyota team-mate Ogier who took his second victory of the season – finishing just under nine seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak.
The British driver had taken Thursday’s opening stage on tarmac, but then struggled on Friday as the first driver ‘sweeping’ the course over the gravel stages.
A change of driving style brought some improvement late in the weekend but Kalle Rovanpera’s third place reduced the Finn’s overall deficit in the championship from 43 points to 30 behind his GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate.
“Obviously not an easy weekend,” said Evans.
“Friday was tough, but I think we made it a bit tougher on ourselves with the speed we were able to show from midday Friday onwards.
“We’re very disappointed with the overall outcome, we need to be better in Sardinia.”
Eight-time world champion Ogier is a further two points back in the championship with Tanak close behind him in the standings as he was in Portugal.
The Estonian won 12 of the 24 stages, including the final five, but ran out of road to overhaul Ogier after surging back from dropping more than 30 seconds following a power steering failure on Saturday.
The Frenchman’s victory made it five wins from five for Toyota in 2025 – and his 65th rally success extends his own record for Rally de Portugal triumphs.
“It’s something I can be proud of, to stay competitive after all these years,” said 41-year-old Ogier.
“OK, Ott was just flying like crazy, maybe a bit too much actually.
“So I think on our side, we proved one more time that race management is a craft that we have.”
Another Toyota Yaris driver Takamoto Katsuta and his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston finished fifth, while Northern Ireland’s Josh McErlean was best placed of the M-Sport Fords in eighth place – moving up from 12th to 10th in the championship.
The drivers face the prospect of more sun-baked gravel roads in round six of the 14-event series with the Rally Italia Sardegna from 5 to 8 June.
Rally de Portugal result
1. Sebastien Ogier (France), Toyota, 3 hours 48 minutes 35.9 seconds
2. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, +8.7secs
3. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, +12.2secs
4. Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Hyundai, +38.5secs
5. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), Toyota, +1min 41.9secs
6. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, +2min 31secs
7. Sami Pajari (Finland), Toyota, +2min 38.3secs
8. Josh McErlean (Ireland), Ford, +5min 12.3secs
FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ standings (provisional)
1. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, 118 points
2. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, 88
3. Sebastien Ogier (France), Toyota, 86
4. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, 84
5. Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Hyundai, 78
6. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), Toyota, 51
10. Josh McErlean (Ireland), Ford, 12
11. Gus Greensmith (Great Britain), Skoda, 8
