ELFYN Evans finished in fifth position as Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville won the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Australia.

The 28-year-old from Dinas Mawddwy has ended the 2017 season with a career-best result of fifth in the overall standings.

With co-driver Daniel Barritt, Evans had won his first WRC event at Wales Rally GB in October, but they knew that they could struggle if the sandy Australian stages remained dry on the final weekend.

Unable to attack through the first two days of sunny competition, the pairing decided to focus on gaining vital knowledge and experience for future competition.

As torrential rain battered the final day’s stages, however, Evans’ was able to deliver a number of competitive times - including the fastest time through Pilbara Reverse (SS17), thereby securing fifth position, and his best ever result at Rally Australia.

“We knew we would struggle this weekend, but with the rain today we had an opportunity to use the soft tyre,” he said.

“It was a more enjoyable day for sure, and it was nice to secure a stage win. It was unfortunate that we encountered a few little niggles after that, but all in all not a bad way to finish off the weekend.

“The season as a whole has been amazing for the team. We’ve worked with some great people this year who really deserve this success – a big thanks to all of them.”

Thierry Neuville won his fourth WRC Championship round of 2017 as the Belgian overcame torrential rain in the final day to win in the Hyundai i20 by 22.5 seconds, also securing the overall WRC runners-up position behind Sébastien Ogier.

Jari-Matti Latvala had crashed his Toyota Yaris out of second position and his exit promoted Ott Tänak into second place in a Ford Fiesta, to secure third in the overall Championship, whilst Haydon Paddon climbed to third in another Hyundai i20.

Delivering on what was expected to be the team’s most challenging event of the year, all three M-Sport crews finished inside the overall top-five – mirroring their strong performance throughout the season, with all three crews also finishing inside the top-five in the Championship.

M-Sport’s achievements have been vast this year. Wrapping up the FIA World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. The British team has also claimed more wins and more podiums than any of their rivals. All three crews have secured a victory, and the Fiesta proved competitive on every surface.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “This has been an absolutely incredible season for the team and we have truly sealed it in style in Australia this weekend.

“We knew this was likely to be our most challenging event of the year, so to have all three cars in the top-five at the end of the rally is a fantastic achievement for us.

“It really does mirror our performance throughout the season with all three of our crews also securing top-five positions in the WRC Championship. It’s something that we are extremely proud of, and I think it goes to prove how consistently strong the whole team has been this year.”