ELFYN Evans felt that he had the speed to challenge for the top results on last weekend’s Rally Sweden, but was left ruing an early spin on Friday morning, which cost him close to half a minute.

Regrouping with three fastest stage times, the Welshman pushed hard but had to settle for fifth place in M-Sport’s EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC - albeit just 10 seconds shy of the podium."We’ve had very good speed for the most part of this weekend,” said Evans, from Dinas Mawddwy. “I would say that we can be happy with 75 per cent of the stages we did, but I’m just kicking myself about the other 25 per cent, which didn’t go quite as well as they should have.

“We had the potential to be on the podium, so we are left with a little bit of frustration, but there are still positives. We’ve made a massive step with the car compared to last year, and we already know that we’re competitive on gravel, so I’m looking forward to the next events.”

Estonian rally driver Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja in their Toyota Yaris won the Rally Sweden on Sunday, finishing with 2:47:30.0 and 53.7 seconds ahead of Finland’s Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm in their Citroën C3. Belgium’s Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul came home in third place, 56.7 seconds behind Mr Tänak in their Hyundai i20.

M-Sport Team Principal, Richard Millener, said: “Elfyn had the speed this weekend, with three fastest stage times recorded, and he will be kicking himself about that spin on Friday morning.

“Were it not for that he could have secured quite a comfortable podium, but it was great to see him bounce back after the disappointment he had in Monte.

“I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long before he brings home some silverware, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs in Mexico.”