Croatia victory scrap was fun, says runner-up Evans

The Welshman was in the thick of the fight for the lead when a second-stage spin cost him the chance of a win. That scrap for the lead raged throughout the event, with him and Thierry Neuville tied on time at the end of the opening day’s action.

Evans enjoyed the intensity of the fight and the nature of the season’s first pure asphalt rally.

“It was fun,” he said. “These roads are good, they’re good to drive especially in these cars – and there’s always lots of excitement and drama. The conditions, the changeable grip levels, make this a really tricky event as well.

“For me, there’s a feeling of disappointment. We were too optimistic with our tyre choice [on Sunday] and with the hard tyre, it was a struggle in the second stage. This corner [where we spun] was quite full of mud and the rear came around.

“You’ve got to be in it to win it and it didn’t work out today. Still, the weekend was generally pretty good with a big fight the whole way through and second place at the end. It’s a great team result and nice to battle with Seb [Ogier].”

Evans scored an identical number of points to his championship rival Neuville, meaning the Briton still trails the Belgian by six points heading into round five in Portugal.