Meirion Evans suffered heartbreak when the final stage showdown at Cork 20 International Rally was brought to an abrupt end on safety grounds.

Going in to the ‘Mullentaura’ test on Sunday, Lampeter’s Evans trailed Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader Callum Devine by 2.7 seconds.

But the grandstand finish did not happen as the crews’ onboard tracker flashed red to indicate a premature conclusion to what had been an epic battle between the two crews.

Evans said: “What can I say, still gutted for the rally to finish how it did.

“We were looking forward to fighting for the win but unfortunately we didn’t get the chance as the stage was red flagged halfway through.

“These things are tough to take.

“The team did a perfect job all weekend, managing to take seven stage wins along the way, putting us in a great position today.

“It’s a pity how some things were handled from a championship perspective, it’s disappointing for us after the hard work that the whole team puts in to prepare and run at the front of these rallies.”

Devine trailed Evans by 6.4 seconds going into Sunday’s leg but halved the deficit after the opening two stages.

Stage 11 and 12 were cancelled but Devine, who is hot favourite to take his first Tarmac crown at Ulster Rally, drove impeccably on stage 13 Badger’s Hill to race into a 4.6 second lead.

Evans battled back to cut the lead to 2.7 seconds in the penultimate round before his chance of taking the win was halted.

The final round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is the Ulster Rally which is held on 17-18 August.