ELFYN Evans and co-driver Craig Parry claimed another superb win in the FIA World Rally Championship’s principle support series - securing victory behind the wheel of their new-evolution Ford Fiesta R5 at last weekend’s Rally Sweden.

Following on from a dominant performance at last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, the M-Sport team hoped for a repeat performance, and given the strong level of competition, it would be hard-fought.

Evans, of Dinas Mawddwy, controlled the event from start to finish - claiming victory over drivers who are considered specialists on the region’s unique stages.

Pushing when confident, he was able to establish a good lead that allowed him to back off the pace and consolidate his position through the event’s closing stages.

Never fazed and fully under control, this has been one of the Welshman’s most impressive performances to date - demonstrating the capacity to manage the event amidst some very strong competition.

“Coming to Sweden, we knew that we had a chance of victory, but we also knew that it would be a big challenge for us - which it was,” said Evans. “To have done what we came here to do is fantastic and we’re all really pleased with the result.

“We had a big battle with Fredrik [Ahlin] and Pontus [Tidemand] on the first day, but we managed to get the measure of them and then controlled the rally from there. We pushed hard when we needed to and took care with some issues once we had established a good lead on Saturday.

“This has been a really great event for us and it was good to see that we were able to control the pace and come out on top.”

In snow and ice conditions that favoured the locals, Evans was headed only briefly in Friday’s opening leg, before taking a lead he retained through to the Karlstad finish after 12 speed tests and 226.48km.

The 27 year-old held off a charging Pontus Tidemand to win by 14.7sec. Tidemand lost 50sec in the opening day with a broken driveshaft on his Skoda Fabia R5, but despite a determined recovery, the Swede was unable to reel in Evans.

Anders Grøndal was on course for the final podium place, but Finland’s Esapekka Lappi blasted through the rally’s closing Power Stage 10.8sec quicker than the Norwegian to snatch third by 2.1sec in a Fabia R5. Lappi had recovered from being 11th after sliding off the road on Friday.

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “We came here to win. We knew it would be difficult given the high level of competition, but the combination of Elfyn and the new-evolution Fiesta R5 has provided us with another fantastic victory.

“I had said that Rallye Monte-Carlo was his best ever drive, but I think he might have surpassed that here. He controlled the event from start to finish, and he out-performed a number of rally crews, who are specialists on these unique stages.

“With six Fiesta R5 Evos in the top-10, we’ve proven how competitive our package is and I’m looking forward to more battles over the course of the season.”