World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans suffered a devastating penultimate-stage puncture at Rally Chile, dropping from second to fifth after a sensor failure delayed his stoppage.
The Toyota driver was holding second overall when his left front tyre failed during the second pass of the Carampangue test. Evans and co-driver Scott Martin eventually stopped to change the wheel, bleeding over two minutes.
Dashboard Notification Sensor Malfunction
The situation worsened when the GR Yaris Rally1’s Tyre Pressure Monitoring System failed to warn the crew. Speaking to DirtFish, Evans revealed the lack of an alert complicated their reaction time.
“We didn’t get the notification on the dash,” Evans confirmed, “so we had to make sure it definitely was flat or delaminated and what have you, so it made the decision to stop a bit more difficult or prolonged let’s say than it normally would’ve been.”
Evans admitted they could not push through the 26.82km stage with the damage. “I think there was no chance to go halfway through that stage, 16km or something, with a front puncture,” he added.
Costly Championship Points Swing
The Welshman fell 48.5 seconds behind closest title rival Sami Pajari. This late drama ruined a weekend where Evans had successfully navigated an emergency tyre allocation split. He had also defended against intense pressure from Sébastien Ogier on Saturday to preserve his podium spot.
“No idea about the puncture but is that any surprise?,” a frustrated Evans told motorsport.com at the stage end.
Evans remains the 2026 championship leader ahead of the Wolf Power Stage, but Pajari is now set to significantly cut into that advantage.
