ELFYN Evans hopes to make a flying start for the M-Sport team when he takes on Rallye Monte-Carlo in the first round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The 29-year-old, from Dinas Mawddwy, has been rewarded for an impressive 2017 with elevation to one of M-Sport’s top two entries - as a team-mate to five-time World Champion Sébastien Ogier.

Since his maiden WRC win in Wales - the first Welsh driver to do so, and the first British driver to win a WRC stage on home soil since the late Richard Burns - he and co-driver Daniel Barritt will line up in one of the Cumbrian team’s front-line Red Bull-liveried Ford Fiesta WRCs.

“It’s a good place to be alongside Seb again this year,” Evans said. “We worked together well last year, albeit on different tyres, so to continue that with identical equipment is a fantastic opportunity.”

While clearly keen to make the most of his coveted seat alongside the French maestro, Evans was by no means overawed by his illustrious team-team when the two drivers attended the launch of the 2018 Championship, at the Autosport International Show, in Birmingham.

“He’s a fantastic benchmark to have in the team, has a lot of experience and is the best in the world at the moment, so you’d be a fool not to capitalise on that and learn from him,” said Evans. “My aim, though, is always to try to beat him, if we can.”

The Welshman is certainly brimming with confidence after his break-through season in 2017, when he not only posted his first WRC victory, but also two impressive second place finishes en route to fifth place in the final WRC standings.

“We made some good steps forward and we have found a happy place with the car - hopefully we can continue improving from there,” he commented.

Evans, though, will need to be at his brilliant best not just to beat Ogier, but to also fend off some world class opposition in what will be another thrilling WRC.

Last year’s introduction of new technical rules not only introduced faster and more exciting cars, but also created renewed rivalry between the top teams.

M-Sport might have won both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ crowns in 2017, but the opposition from Citroën, Hyundai and Toyota will be even stronger in 2018.

Evans, however, believes that the M-Sport technicians - now benefiting from increased support from Ford - will manage to keep the Fiesta out in front.

“There are small improvements, but ultimately, with the regulations as they are, it doesn’t give anyone the scope to make massive changes. It’s more a case of tweaking here and there,” Evans said.

“We already had a strong platform, we just need to keep nibbling away to find gains in performance. Hopefully, the guys have been doing that over the winter, and we all will continue pushing hard with the support of Ford this year.

“There’s always been a Ford connection with some engineering support, but that’s now stepped up a level - that should help us to improve and to stay at the top.”

The notoriously challenging Alpine classic always throws up an ultra-testing cocktail of ice, snow and slush, making the already demanding mountain roads among the trickiest on the 13-round calendar, which reaches Wales in October.

Evans has contested Rallye Monte-Carlo four times, and has never finished outside the top eight. His best result is sixth place, on his debut in 2014 and again last year.

“It’s never an easy event,” admitted Evans. “There are so many factors that come into play that you don’t generally get on a more normal round of the championship but it’s an iconic way to start the year. The stages themselves – if you take away all the snow and ice – are fantastic.”

While the famous Rallye Monte-Carlo will provide a stern opening test, the WRC calendar throws up numerous challenges, before the teams encounter the legendary Welsh forests in early October.

As ever, the calendar is an epic adventure, ranging from the snow packed tracks of Sweden to the rock-strewn mountain passes of Mexico and Argentina.