Elfyn Evans is looking to bounce back in Poland after his Rally Italy hopes were ended early in Sardinia.

The Dolgellau-born racer had started well finishing just 0.5secs off the pace on the opening stage.

But just four stages into the event, Evans was caught out by a dip after a tight corner and slid off the road on the first pass of Tula.

Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt damaged the front right suspension of his DMACK Ford Fiesta.

And though he was allowed to return under Rally 2 rules, it was a case of getting some miles under his belt.

The 28-year-old said: “It’s fair to say that this weekend didn’t go our way, but we’ll focus on the positives and look forward to the next event in Poland.

“After the time loss on Friday it was really important to get the mileage under our belts.

“This is one of the most abrasive rallies of the year and we collected a lot of data that can be put to good use for future development.

“It’s not been the result we wanted but it was good to get more feedback on the set-up and technical information on the tyres.

“It’s fair to say we made some good progress. Now the focus is definitely on Poland and Finland were we can be more confident.”

Evans is sixth in the World Championship standings with 53 points with the next round in Poland starting on June 29.