Evans boosts WRC lead as Neuville wins in Portugal

Elfyn Evans third place in Portugal was the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver's 49th WRC podium [Getty Images] Elfyn Evans extended his lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC) after finishing third at Rally de Portugal, won by Hyundai's Thierry Neuville. The Welsh driver's Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier had looked on course for a second successive victory before he and Sami Pajari both punctured on the penultimate stage, promoting Evans up from fifth. The 37-year-old from Dolgellau also collected seven Sunday bonuses to add to 15 points for third place, extending his championship lead over Takamota Katsuta to 12 points.

"A lot of guys on the team were very unlucky with the punctures today, so I feel for them," said Evans, who finished 29. 1 seconds behind Belgian Neuville, with Swedish Toyota driver Oliver Solberg second. "I'm not so satisfied with the driving over the weekend, there has been a lot of potential.

" Katsuta with Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston finished fifth. Josh McErlean placed 18th after mishaps on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while Motorsport Ireland and M-Sport Ford team-mate Jon Armstrong retired from the rally after crashing on stage 15 of 23. Jon Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne have had two top fifteen placings in their debut WRC season [Getty Images] Armstrong had been running in 10th overall, moving back into the points on Saturday morning after losing power steering on Friday.

But 600 meters into Saturday afternoon's wet first stage, the Fermanagh driver nudged a bank with the rear of his Puma Rally1 causing it to roll. "I was trying to keep a good rhythm but maybe slightly underestimated the grip levels from basically the weather change," Armstrong told rally website Dirtfish. "Just the rear stepped out quite quickly and then touched the bank and put the car into a roll on the road, so really frustrated to obviously go out like this.