World Rally Championship: Craig Breen third as Elfyn Evans crashes out in Monte Carlo

Elfyn Evans is out of contention in the opening round of the World Rally Championship at Rallye Monte Carlo.

Last year's runner-up retired from stage 11 on Saturday after sliding down a hillside outside a right-hand corner when running in third place.

That promoted Ireland's Craig Breen onto the podium for M-Sport Ford.

Reigning World Champion Sebastien Ogier and fellow Frenchman and record title holder Sebastien Loeb lead the way in first and second.

In the WRC's new hybrid era, Evans was one of a number of high-profile casualties from a dramatic day of running in the mountains above Monaco.

There was no damage to his GR Yaris, but the Welshman couldn't get enough traction to continue as rally organisers red-flagged the stage due to the position of Evans' stricken vehicle.

The Toyota driver was pulled back onto the road once the stage had stopped, allowing him to continue for the afternoon stages but with a 20-minute time addition.

Hyundai's Oliver Solberg, son of 2003 champion Petter, was the first driver to slide off on Saturday's second stage before Evans' crash on the following run.

Ott Tanak, the 2019 champion, retired on the road section after hitting a bank in stage 11, and the third Hyundai of Thierry Neuville and England's Gus Greensmith both dropped minutes after technical difficulties throughout Saturday.

Ogier, running a part-time campaign in 2022, leads the event by 21.1 seconds over nine-time champion Loeb with four stages to run on Sunday. Breen is a distant third, ahead of the charging Toyota of Kalle Rovanpera in fourth.

In WRC2, the championship's second tier, England's Chris Ingram is seventh as he continues his recovery from technical trouble on the opening night of action on Thursday.