Elfyn's WRC lead cut after testing Rally Paraguay

Welshman's fourth places keeps him on top of the table with three rounds remaining.

Elfyn Evans battled to fourth place in an eventful Rally Paraguay and remains at the top of the World Rally Championship table with just three rounds to go.

But leading rival Sami Pajari stormed to his third consecutive WRC victory, cutting Elfyn’s lead from 30 points to 20.

Elfyn briefly led during an incident-packed Friday, only to see tyre damage cost him around a minute and drop him down to third.

With many of his rivals suffering punctures and delaminations, Elfyn chose a cautious approach on Saturday to avoid suffering a similar fate. But with conditions not as challenging as anticipated with the predicted heavy rain staying away, Adrien Fourmaux closed a 55-second gap to just 3.3 seconds and overhauled the Welshman early on Sunday to secure a podium place.

W

ith Hayden Paddon taking an unexpected second place, that left Elfyn in fourth.

Oliver Solberg is third in the title race, a further 21 points behind Pajari. He finished fifth in Paraguay, falling out of podium contention when leading on Friday after his engine stopped under braking.