ELFYN Evans and co-driver Scott Martin collected another strong haul of points to consolidate fourth place in the FIA World Rally Championship at Rally Italia Sardegna in the M-Sport EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.

The British pairing had been part of a Fiesta one-two through the early stages, but fell adrift of the podium when the second pass of Castelsardo (SS7) was cancelled for the cars behind - giving their rivals the benefit of fresher tyres, and a better road position the following day.

Locked in an intense battle for fourth position, which became a battle for third given the late drama, the Welshman missed out by less than a second. But despite forgoing a double podium for the Fiesta, he strengthened his championship position going into the summer break.

“It’s really disappointing to have missed out by such a small margin,” said 30 year-old Evans, of Dinas Mawddwy. “Looking back, the first stage of the loop was okay, but we gave far too much away in both passes of the Power Stage.

“It’s so rough in there and so easy to make a mistake - but also so easy to make the time if you’re willing to put it all on the line. I wouldn’t say that we didn’t push, but I was definitely too cautious in the hairpins, and that’s where we lost it.

“It’s difficult right now, but it’s still a good result overall, and we’ve strengthened our position in the Championship.”

Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jaeger overhauled Evans for the third podium place on the final stage, after a battle that had raged for two days.

Starting the final day 14.9s behind Evans, Mikkelsen ate into that gap with all four stage wins, including the powerstage, to take the position by just 0.9s, on his first rally since Argentina in April.

M-Sport Team Principal, Richard Millener, said: “It’s a shame Elfyn missed out on the podium, but Andreas had a lot to prove and was pushing really hard.

“Those stages are so rough, and when you have nothing to lose you can take all the risks and gain a lot of time. Of course it’s a bit gutting to have missed out on a double podium by just 0.9 seconds, but we need to look at the bigger picture where Elfyn and Scott have strengthened their position as the best of the rest.”

Hyundai WRC driver Dani Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio sensationally won, as Toyota’s Ott Tanak appeared to lose his power steering on the final stage.

Tanak, with co-driver Martin Järveoja, headed onto the powerstage 26.7 seconds ahead of Sordo, but plummeted to fifth after spinning the Toyota and losing two minutes as he wrestled with his Yaris.

Sordo claimed his second WRC victory by 13.7s over M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen on his first event with new co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen in the Ford Fiesta WRC.

Sordo had led in Sardinia on Friday, but was overhauled by an inspired Tanak - who won all six of Saturday’s stages to overturn a 11.2s deficit into a 25.9s lead.

Despite this Tanak now has a four point lead in the Championship over Sebastien Ogier, who had finished on the podium on every rally since Mexico, but scuppered his chances of a rostrum finish in Sardinia as he clipped a boulder, breaking his Citroen’s front-left steering arm.

Thierry Neuville is a further three points back in the Championship, after miscommunication between him and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul resulted in a half spin that damaged their Hyundai’s radiator, and they then overshot a junction.

Having dropped an insurmountable amount of time, they settled for sixth.