Elfyn Evans' lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC) was cut as Sebastien Ogier won Rally de Portugal for a seventh time.
Welshman Evans, 36, could only finish sixth, more than two minutes behind Toyota team-mate Ogier who took his second victory of the season - finishing just under nine seconds ahead of Hyundai's Ott Tanak.
The British driver had taken Thursday's opening stage on tarmac, but then struggled on Friday as the first driver 'sweeping' the course over the gravel stages.
A change of driving style brought some improvement late in the weekend but Kalle Rovanpera's third place reduced the Finn's overall deficit in the championship from 43 points to 30 behind his GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate.
"Obviously not an easy weekend," said Evans.
"Friday was tough, but I think we made it a bit tougher on ourselves with the speed we were able to show from midday Friday onwards.
"We're very disappointed with the overall outcome, we need to be better in Sardinia."
Eight-time world champion Ogier is a further two points back in the championship with Tanak close behind him in the standings as he was in Portugal.
