Toyota's Oliver Solberg crashed out of Spain's Rally Islas Canarias on Sunday's penultimate stage while chasing Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier for the lead.
The Swede had reduced the gap to 2.2 seconds after two of the final day's four stages but went off the road after 14km in the third and hit a barrier, with the car losing a left front wheel and too damaged to continue. The crew were unhurt.
Solberg's exit lifted teammates Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari to the final two podium spots behind Ogier, who led the Welshman by 24.3 seconds, with one 13.27-km stage remaining and bonus points to be won.
Japan's Takamoto Katsuta, the championship leader, was in fourth place for Toyota.
"It is not the way we wanted to see it go. Oliver was doing a great job up until that point. Rallying is tough," said reigning nine-time world champion Ogier. "Being fast is important but being at the end even more."