World Rally Championship: Elfyn Evans seals Rally Finland victory

Elfyn Evans won the Rally Finland to maintain his World Rally Championship (WRC) title hopes.

The Welsh driver has reduced his overall deficit behind leader Sebastien Ogier from 44 points to 24, with two rounds of the Championship remaining.

Toyota teammate Ogier finished fifth in Finland, collecting 10 points.

"This one feels good in the way we managed to do it," said Evans, who also picked up five bonus points by winning the final Power Stage.

"We struggled a lot in Estonia [in a previous round] and we made some changes to the car in the test and found some confidence early on.

"We had a good road position on Friday and took the lead on Saturday, and I'm really happy to be able to give the team a win on their home rally."

Hyundai's Ott Tanak finished 14.1 seconds behind Evans in second, while Ireland's Craig Breen is now sixth in the Championship after taking third place in Finland.

It was a dominating performance by Evans, who won nine of the 19 stages to become the first Welsh driver to win Rally Finland.

It is the Gazoo Racing World Rally Team driver's second victory of 2021, after May's Rally de Portugal.

Rally Espana is next on 14-16 October before the season finale in Italy, November's Rally Monza, with a maximum 30 points available at each.

"I always said from the outset, the aim was to do the best on each rally we have left," Evans added.

"We have to just focus on doing our best in Spain and worry about the rest later."

Evans has also extended his overall lead on the driver placed third in the Championship, after Hyundai's Thierry Neuville was forced to retire on Saturday evening.

The Belgian has 130 points, Evans 166 and Ogier 190.