Elfyn Evans has lost out on victory in the Croatia Rally after a mistake on the very last corner.

Going into the 20th and final stage, the Dolgellau driver was in the driving seat for victory with a 3.9 second lead over second placed Sebastien Ogier, his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate.

Completing the stage before Evans, it was a monumental effort by the Frenchman, fastest so far on the stage with a time on eight minutes 14 seconds but he didn’t think it was good enough to beat Elfyn.

Ogier said after the stage: "I think it won’t be enough for the win. It has been an eventful weekend for me after this morning. We are here and we have to look forward."

Evans was looking good until the closing stages of the stage where a trip over a grass bank on the final corner proved costly, finishing 4.5 seconds slower than Ogier in the Wolf Power Stage, meaning the final gap between the pair was just 0.6 seconds.

Elfyn said: "That last corner. I just got onto the loose and completely missed the next corner. It wasn’t all lost there, but I’d say a second was gone.

"That’s a shame, but it was a big fight all weekend and hats off to Seb for the last stage.

Kaj Lindströ, sporting director of Toyota Gazoo Racing, said: "I don’t know what to say. Elfyn made me a bit scared on that last corner but luckily he got away with it!

“What a battle - both guys within just 0.6 seconds - it’s great.

"Of course it’s a very big thing for the team. There was a lot of preparation and learning to do and it looks like we have done a good job."Evans took the lead in the event for the first time this morning when world champion Ogier was in a road traffic collision ahead of the morning’s opening speed test.Ogier moves to the head of the championship after leader Kalle Rovanperä crashed out in Friday’s opening leg.