Sordo's car caught fire: "Fire came between the seats"

After three podiums this season, the World Cup finale in Japan came to an abrupt end for Dani Sordo.

The Spaniard's car caught fire on the first stage of the day.

- It came very quickly at the beginning of the stretch, the car started to smell a lot of petrol, in a straight line, there was fire between the seats and a lot of smoke.

So I stopped the car and after a few minutes it started to burn, says Sordo to WRC.

And continues.

- It came from behind and was difficult to stop.

We couldn't do anything.

I'm sorry for the team to lose a car like this.

39-year-old Sordo and his map reader escaped unharmed in the fire.

The Irishman Craig Breen has had a difficult season with several departures, and on today's fourth leg came the next blow for the 32-year-old.

Breen crashed into a guardrail and was forced to retire for the day but is expected to restart tomorrow.

Second battle at the top

After Friday's stages, Welshman Elfyn Evans leads but he is under pressure.

Only three seconds separate him and second placed Thierry Neuville.

Kalle Rovanperä, world champion in 2022, is third, just over five seconds behind.

- It's always nice to be leading at the end of the day but there's still a long way to go, so it doesn't mean much yet, says Evans after Friday's stage.

12 hurdles remain in this year's final WC sub-competition.

Follow the power stage, the final stage, in the Japanese WC rally directly on SVT on Sunday morning at 06:00