DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans was “relieved to be at the end” of a tough weekend at Rally de Portugal but still picked up some valuable points to lead the FIA World Rally Championship by 30 points.

It was still a very successful event for his Toyota Gazoo Racing team with Sébastien Ogier celebrating yet another Rally de Portugal victory after winning the demanding fifth round of the championship season.

Evans said: “It’s not been an easy weekend for us and I’m quite relieved to be at the end.

“Obviously opening the road on Friday was tough for us but we were also missing quite a bit of performance especially from the middle of Friday onwards.

“We haven’t collected as many points as we would have liked so it’s been a frustrating weekend, and now we just have to work to try and be better on the next rally in Sardinia.

“Huge congratulations to my teammates Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais on the win, but especially to Seb on his seventh victory in Portugal – an amazing record.”

It was a fifth win from five events in 2025 for TGR-WRT and the team’s sixth successive Portugal triumph in a run dating back to 2019.

For Ogier it’s a seventh win in the country, one year after breaking the long-standing record of Markku Alén. Portugal was the first of three consecutive hot and rough gravel rallies in the south of Europe that test cars, tyres and drivers.

The first full day of the rally on Friday was one of the longest of the season so far with 10 stages punctuated only by two brief remote service halts, and Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais finished it in second place just seven seconds from the lead.

Through Saturday, Ogier battled closely with rival Ott Tänak (Hyundai) and took the lead after his opponent was slowed by an issue in the rough afternoon conditions.

He carefully managed his advantage through a relatively long Sunday and ultimately sealed victory by 8.7 seconds. Kalle Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen completed a double podium in third place.

While they couldn’t hold off Tänak on the final day, they did take second in the Super Sunday classification and third in the Power Stage to gain valuable extra points for the championship.

Takamoto Katsuta and his navigator Aaron Johnston finished fifth having once again shown stage-winning pace and been part of a close battle for a podium place in Portugal.

Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin moved up to sixth overall and took fifth on Super Sunday to secure valuable points from a challenging weekend after sweeping the road through Friday.

Evans continues to lead the drivers’ championship by 30 points over Rovanperä with Ogier a further two points back. TGR-WRT increased its manufacturers’ championship lead to 55 points.

Sami Pajari produced a strong weekend to finish seventh in his TGR-WRT2 entry along with co-driver Marko Salminen, continuing to gain valuable experience in his first full season at the highest level.

Rally Italia Sardegna (June 5-8) features fast but narrow gravel stages, where exposed rocks as well as trees at the side of the road can catch out the unwary. High temperatures combined with the abrasive surface places high stresses on the cars and tyres.