Among the casualties of the baked gravel roads was another Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera, who finished outside the top 10.
“It’s been a tough weekend, didn’t really have the pace we wanted,” said 36-year-old Evans.
“We had to get to the end to get something, so could be worse.”
Welshman Evans had built up an unprecedented 36-point lead after the first three rallies of the year, placing second behind Ogier in Monte Carlo before winning in Sweden and Kenya.
His French team-mate has now won four of this season’s seven events and collected 10 bonus points in Greece, winning both Super Sunday and the powerstage, but the 41-year-old will skip the next round on the high-speed forest roads of Estonia.
“I think we’ve had a super strong weekend,” Ogier said.
“There wasn’t much we could do to Ott – he was really flying.”
Ireland’s Josh McErlean was another beset by struggles, suffering a puncture on Friday and damaging his suspension and breaking a driveshaft on Saturday.
He finished 12th in his M-Sport Ford Puma.
“It took sheer determination from the team, because every service there was some job,” said McErlean.
“Hopefully it gets a bit easier from here in Estonia and Finland.”
England’s Gus Greensmith was one of several WRC2 drivers who claimed top-10 finishes.
Round eight of the 14-event WRC series, Delfi Rally Estonia, runs from 17-20 July.
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