Damaged roll-cage rules Welshman out after taking the lead.
The first WRC visit to Rally New Zealand for over 10 years didn’t go to plan as Elfyn was forced to retire from the lead on the third day with a damaged roll-cage.
After battling through a long, tough Friday, which served up 158km of action and some pretty horrendous wet conditions, Elfyn had edged into the lead of the Auckland-based event by 2.9 seconds.
However, on Saturday’s second stage, the rear of his Toyota GR Yaris broke away on a slippery braking area, he clipped a bank and the car rolled lightly. Elfyn made it to the end of the stage, dropping only 30 seconds and, after some road-side repairs, made it back safely to service.
But there was damage to the roll-cage meaning Elfyn was not able to continue on safety grounds and was forced to retire from the event.