How Hyundai's latest self-destruction handed Evans Portugal victory

At one point Hyundai held the top three positions in Portugal, but when trouble struck the Korean marque's two leading chargers, a grateful Elfyn Evans was on hand to see off Hyundai third man Dani Sordo and become the third different winner in four rallies

Three days of drama heralded the return of the World Rally Championship’s most charismatic event: Rally Portugal. They ended in victory for Elfyn Evans, allowing the Welshman to revitalise his 2021 campaign while his Toyota team seized the initiative in the manufacturers’ standings.

Rain had been a major feature of the recce days, and the action got under way on Friday morning with plenty of mist in the hills. Temperatures were brisk and put a premium on soft-compound rubber to exact the maximum grip from the gravel. This already meant that a joker was being played, because championship tyre supplier Pirelli was only authorised to issue each car with eight soft-compound tyres to last for the whole event, with an additional 24 hard-compound tyres.