Evans Extends WRC Lead as Neuville Wins Rally de Portugal

Elfyn Evans extended his WRC lead with third place at Rally de Portugal, won by Thierry Neuville. Safety breaches led to a suspended fine for organisers, while Jon Armstrong retired after a crash.

Evans Extends WRC Lead with Third Place in Portugal

Elfyn Evans secured third place at Rally de Portugal, marking his 49th World Rally Championship (WRC) podium and extending his championship lead. The event was won by Hyundai's Thierry Neuville.

Evans' Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate, Sebastien Ogier, appeared set for a second consecutive victory but suffered a puncture on the penultimate stage, as did Sami Pajari. These setbacks elevated Evans from fifth to third place.

The 37-year-old from Dolgellau also earned seven bonus points on Sunday, adding to the 15 points awarded for his third-place finish. This extended his championship lead over Takamoto Katsuta to 12 points.

"A lot of guys on the team were very unlucky with the punctures today, so I feel for them," said Evans, who finished 29.1 seconds behind Belgian Neuville, with Swedish Toyota driver Oliver Solberg finishing second.

"I'm not so satisfied with the driving over the weekend, there has been a lot of potential."

Katsuta, with Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston, finished fifth.

Josh McErlean placed 18th after encountering difficulties on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Meanwhile, Motorsport Ireland and M-Sport Ford team-mate Jon Armstrong retired following a crash on stage 15 of 23.

Jon Armstrong's Rally Retirement

Jon Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne have achieved two top fifteen finishes in their debut WRC season.

The white and blue M-Sport Ford Puma of Jon Armstrong throws up dust on Rally de Portugal — Image caption, Jon Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne have had two top fifteen placings in their debut WRC season

Armstrong had been running 10th overall, regaining points on Saturday morning after losing power steering on Friday. However, 600 meters into Saturday afternoon's wet first stage, the Fermanagh driver clipped a bank with the rear of his Puma Rally1, causing the car to roll.

"I was trying to keep a good rhythm but maybe slightly underestimated the grip levels from basically the weather change," Armstrong told rally website Dirtfish.

"Just the rear stepped out quite quickly and then touched the bank and put the car into a roll on the road, so really frustrated to obviously go out like this."

The 31-year-old driver had a promising start to his WRC debut season, including a top-10 finish in Sweden, but has now experienced crashes in consecutive rallies.

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"We just have to try and learn as much as possible from that," he added.

"It's not good to crash one of these cars, so yeah we'll try to pick ourselves up and going to Japan you still have to have confidence too, so we just have to get our head back into it."

Round seven, based in Toyota City, sees Rally Japan moved from its usual November slot to 28-31 May.

Rally Organisers Fined for Safety Breach

Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were winners of Rally de Portugal in 2021.

Elfyn Evans on stage seven of the 2026 Rally de Portugal after passing through stage banner — Image caption, Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were winners of Rally de Portugal in 2021

The organiser of Rally de Portugal, Automovel Club de Portugal (ACP), received a €15,000 (£13,000) suspended fine after two non-rally vehicles entered stage seven, obstructing drivers including Evans.

ACP has also been instructed to "further improve existing safety measures."

On the first stage of Friday afternoon, Evans caught up to a recovery truck, which then quickly pulled over at the next junction.

"Obviously it was a pure shock at the time," said Evans shortly after the day-two incident.

"It was dust first and we didn't know what would be causing that as first car on the road. After, I couldn't believe it.

"We know that we can't be in this situation again."

The stage was red-flagged following a second incident. ACP president Carlos Barbosa stated that the company managing the vehicles that entered the course was immediately relieved of its duties.

"Rally Portugal is so exemplary regarding safety that this is an episode that obviously won't cause lasting damage, in the sense that it shouldn't have happened," Barbosa added.

Barbosa also noted that the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) is investigating how the recovery truck passed three police checkpoints without being stopped.

The fine is suspended until 31 December 2027 and would be activated if a similar violation occurs next year.