Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has snatched Corsica victory as Elfyn Evans encountered heartbreak on the final stage of the rally.
The Welshman had a 11.5 second lead over Neuville going into the powerstage and appeared on course to take the win before getting a puncture on the final kilometres of the event.
Evans lost a minute and a half on the stage from the tyre delamination, promoting Neuville, who had resigned himself to second, to rally winner and championship leader.
He now holds a two-point lead over Sebastien Ogier who finished second after struggling all weekend with the handling of his C3.
Evans ended up in third, after taking back the lead from overnight leader Neuville in the opening stage of the day with the fastest time through Eaux de Zilia.
Fourth went to Dani Sordo, who had an outside chance of stealing a position from Ogier during the morning but cruised around to consolidate a strong weekend.
Teemu Suninen finished in fifth in his first time at the event in a WRC car, ahead of Ott Tanak who was battling for the lead with Evans before a puncture ended his chances of a win.
Esapekka Lappi in seventh was downbeat after an underwhelming rally and like Citroen team-mate Ogier struggled to get to grips with the car.
Sebastien Loeb was always on the back foot after a broken steering arm lost his two minutes in the opening stage of the weekend and ended the rally in eighth place.
Powerstage winner Kris Meeke finished in ninth after steering arm damage also ended his chances of a strong result, with Jari-Matti Latvala rounding out the top-10 after a series of punctures.
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