Sawt Falasteen - Evans's thoughts for friend Breen after 'insignificant' Croatia win

Evans, 34, moved joint top of the world championship standings with Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier on 69 points after the Welshman's sixth career win but first since Finland in 2021.

"Victory for me seems insignificant at the moment," said Evans. "We have worked hard and for a long time to achieve this but it is surprising how worthless it feels.

"We are thinking of our friend, it was all we could think of when we crossed the finishing line."

Evans did not let his chance of victory slip after taking the lead when Breen's Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville crashed on Saturday.

Neuville was permitted to compete in his repaired car on Sunday and picked up what could prove to be an invaluable five points -- in terms of the world title -- when he won the 'power stage'.

Neuville, though, was devastated he had been unable to achieve the goal the team had set and win the rally itself as a proper tribute to Breen.

Breen, 33, was killed when practising for the race -- the fourth in this year's championship -- earlier this month.

"I don't know what to say. I am just so disappointed for the team, for us, after everything that has happened," said Neuville.

"It is a tough moment, so we really wanted the victory to make Craig proud.

"Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity with our retirement from the lead on Saturday. We re-joined the rally this morning determined to fight in the power stage. We gave absolutely everything and that was for Craig."

Estonia's Ott Tanak finished second in a Ford, 27 seconds off the pace with Hyundai's Finnish driver Esapekka Lappi -- whose car was decorated in the colours of the Irish flag as a tribute to Breen -- third.

Cyril Abiteboul, Hyundai's team principal, said that with the rally coming so soon after Breen's death the real impact on the team members had yet to be felt.

"The sequence of events that has happened since that tragic day last Thursday has been incredibly hard on the team," he said.

"We had to put our emotions on pause but now is the period of reflection. It will all come back hard, and it is important that we all find the time to deal with this in our own individual way."

Eight-time world champion Ogier, competing part-time this season but who had won both in Monte Carlo and Mexico this year, could finish only fifth.

"It just wasn't our weekend," said the Frenchman, who suffered two punctures on Friday and was penalised before bouncing back, posting the fastest times in three stages on Saturday.

Defending world champion Kalle Rovanpera was fourth.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST