Evans takes Croatia lead after Ogier crashes before start

Elfyn Evans took the lead of the Croatia Rally on Sunday morning after his Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier had an accident on the way to the start.

"Seb and Julien were involved in a traffic incident on the road section from service to the first stage this morning. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and their Yaris WRC is OK to continue on the stages," tweeted the team.

Ogier, the seven-time world champion, was leading on Saturday night but drove the two morning stages with visible damage to the passenger door and with co-driver Julien Ingrassia wearing goggles as they raced.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) site reported that video footage showed Ogier in a collision on the road section heading toward the start of the day's first stage.

The Frenchman dropped to second, 2.8 seconds behind Welshman Evans.

"It has been a tricky morning but it is not over," said Ogier, who was third fastest in the two morning stages.

Evans won both the stages, the second by 3.5 seconds, but complained again about the dirt on the road surface.

"A lot of pollution already and very slippery," he said. "Not easy, but all okay."

Belgian Thierry Neuville was second in both stages to remain third, 8.4 seconds off the lead but almost a minute ahead of his Hyundai teammate Estonian Ott Tanak in fourth.

"I probably have some gravel in the rear wheel because I have a lot of vibrations. I slid a bit wide on a slow corner, nothing major, but it's a hell of a stage," said Neuville after struggling to keep pace with Evans the second stage of the morning.

In this third of 12 events Ogier, Neuville and Evans are fighting to take the championship lead from Finn Kalle Rovanpera who went out in his Toyota with a spectacular crash on Friday.

The 20-year-old's Toyota hurtled off a narrow tarmac road and down a steep forest embankment into dense undergrowth after losing control on a right-hand corner.

Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen freed themselves unhurt but were unable to continue due the state of the car

Two stages remain in the mountainous 300.32km rally, the WRC's first in Croatia.