DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans maintained his World Rally Championship lead despite narrowly missing out on a podium as Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari claimed a historic third consecutive victory at Rally del Paraguay.

The Welshman and co-driver Scott Martin produced another measured drive on the demanding South American gravel roads to finish fourth overall and collect valuable championship points with just three rounds remaining.

While Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen stole the headlines by becoming the first crew to record their maiden three WRC victories in successive events, Evans left Paraguay with his title hopes firmly intact.

After victories in Estonia and Finland, Pajari completed his remarkable hat-trick with a mature and controlled performance on the WRC’s second visit to Paraguay.

The event presented a stern challenge for crews, with rough gravel roads, hidden rocks, deep compressions and high temperatures placing huge demands on tyres, machinery and drivers. The threat of heavy rain remained throughout the rally, with Toyota even fitting snorkel systems to its GR YARIS Rally1 cars as a precaution.

Pajari endured an early setback when a water leak dropped him as low as seventh on Friday morning. However, he nursed the problem until the midday service and then capitalised as rivals encountered more significant difficulties. By the end of Friday he had moved into the lead, before steadily extending his advantage on Saturday and eventually sealing victory by 25.8 seconds.

For Evans, the rally promised even more in its early stages. The Dolgellau driver briefly led the event on Friday after safely negotiating the treacherous opening tests while others ran into trouble.

However, tyre damage later in the day cost him around a minute and effectively ended his hopes of challenging for victory. Despite that setback, Evans responded with the consistency that has characterised his championship campaign, climbing back into contention and finishing only 5.1 seconds short of a podium place.

Additional points from fourth position in the Power Stage and fifth on Super Sunday ensured he strengthened his bid for a maiden world title. He now leads Pajari by 20 points heading into the final three rounds of the season.

Evans said: “This weekend started pretty well on Friday until we had the issue with the tyre in the afternoon, and after that we didn't really settle into a good enough rhythm and were missing some pace to hold off Adrien who was really strong.

“We were maybe a bit too conservative after all the drama of Friday when conditions were perhaps more extreme, but it's not easy to find the right balance between risk and reward.

“I can't be completely happy with the weekend but others fared worse and we still come away with some decent points.”

Elsewhere, Oliver Solberg recovered from losing four minutes through a stall and tyre change on Friday to finish fifth overall alongside co-driver Elliott Edmondson. Solberg also claimed victory in the Power Stage and shared the fastest Super Sunday time with Toyota colleague Sébastien Ogier.

Ogier, competing under restart rules after suspension damage ended his challenge on Friday, finished second in the Power Stage and collected maximum Super Sunday points.

Toyota's dominant performance further strengthened its grip on the manufacturers’ championship, with the team's advantage now standing at 173 points.

The championship now moves across the Andes to Rally Chile on September 10-13.