Daily Times

ZAGREB: Elfyn Evans won the Croatia Rally on Sunday for his first victory in 18 months but celebrations were muted after the death last week of Ireland’s Craig Breen. Hyundai driver Breen died in a crash while testing for the Zagreb-based asphalt event, the fourth round of the championship. Welshman Evans, now joint top of the championship with part-time team mate Sebastien Ogier, had Breen’s name on the side of his Toyota while Hyundai’s reduced entry of two cars ran with a special livery in the colours of the Irish flag. “We’ve been working towards this for a long time but it all feels so insignificant at the moment. That’s the bottom line,” said Evans after finishing 27 seconds clear of M-Sport Ford’s Estonian Ott Tanak. “After the focus of the weekend, we’re all back to missing our friend now.” The win was Evans’s first since Finland in October 2021. Hyundai’s Espekka Lappi was third, his first podium of the season. Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera was fourth for Toyota, and is only a point off the championship lead, with team mates Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta fifth and sixth.