Matosinhos (Portugal) (AFP) - Britain's Elfyn Evans took control of the Rally of Portugal on Friday as early leader Sebastien Loeb and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier were both forced to retire.
Evans, 33, winner in Portugal last year, won four of the day's eight stages to top world championship leading teammate Kalle Rovanpera of Finland by 13.6sec at the end of the day.
Nine-time world champion Loeb won the first three specials but was forced to retire in SS5 after crashing into a wall, with Ogier's bid for a record breaking sixth Rally of Portugal win was hit by two punctures when he was without a spare wheel.
Loeb who is 'freelancing' in the WRC for Ford in a handful of rallies this season, hit the front at the end of SS4 to end the morning session 0.5 seconds ahead of Toyota's Evans.
But the 48-year-old was forced out in the fifth stage after hitting a wall to rip the right rear wheel from the car.
Evans produced the best time during the mountainous second stage at Lousa and was again the fastest on the third stage layout at Gois.
After Loeb's retirement the Welsh driver surged back ahead, winning SS6 and SS9, managing to avoid the multiple hazards on the deteriorating roads.
His Toyota teammate Rovanpera, who has already won in Sweden and Croatia, won two stages SS7 and SS8.
Eight-time world champion Ogier pulled out in the seventh special.
Ogier won SS5 to sit third only 4.8sec adrift of Evans, but pulled up on SS6 after suffering a front-left puncture, losing more than two minutes as he and co-driver Benjamin Veillas fitted a spare wheel.
Freelancing with Japanese manufacturer Toyota, Ogier again punctured in SS7 and without a spare at his disposal the 38-year-old could not continue.
After three rounds of the championship contested on asphalt and snow, the drivers in Portugal are back on gravel.
Based in Matosinhos, near Porto, the stages take in dirt roads in the centre and north of the country, which are dusty during the first passages, brittle and uneven later.
Saturday's route includes two loops of three stages in the regions of Braga and Porto, before a timed stage on a 3.3km urban layout in Porto.
