Rovanpera set for world rally title after Evans crashes out

Kalle Rovanpera's quest to wrap up his second successive title received a massive boost on Saturday when his last remaining rival Elfyn Evans crashed out of the Central European Rally.

Evans, a teammate of Rovanpera's at Toyota, hit trouble in the 11th stage when placed third in the standings.

Evans went into this penultimate round of the season 31 points adrift in the world rally championship.

With a maximum 30 points on offer this weekend the Welshman's only hope of fighting on until the final round in Japan is for him to return for Sunday's power stage, which is worth five points to the winner, and for Rovanpera to fail to finish.

Rovanpera was virtually untouchable on Friday as he built up a 36-second lead over Thierry Neuville in this new addition to the WRC calendar staged over three countries - Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

But the 23-year-old Finn found the going tougher on Saturday morning, spinning his Toyota on stage 10.

Any thoughts Evans entertained of a potential upset were dashed on the 11th stage when he misjudged a slippery right-handed bend and slid his car into a barn door.

With Evans exiting the scene Rovanpera had the luxury of taking his foot off the gas to avoid a similar mishap, with Hyundai's Neuville, winner of stages 10 and 11, now leading by 11 seconds.

"I knew that Elfyn was off, so why would I risk anything anymore?" Rovanpera said.

"It’s a real shame for Elfyn and (co-driver) Scott (Martin). They put on a good fight and it would have been really tricky for us to keep pushing.

"Being the last car on the road was really tricky, it was a big mess out there. Now the goal is a bit different and we will just try to finish with some good points," he added.