EXCELLING under challenging circumstances, Welsh ace Elfyn Evans and co-driver Phil Mills secured a highly commendable fifth place at Tour de Corse, the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Evans’ regular co-driver Dan Barritt was ruled out after he went through a medical, following their sixth-gear crash that had ruled the pair out of Rally Mexico.

Mills, however, confidently navigated his fellow countryman through some of the WRC’s most arduous asphalt stages.

The pairing had just six runs through Shakedown to perfect their relationship inside the EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC, but soon found a comfortable rhythm to challenge for a strong result.

Growing in confidence with every kilometre, the pairing were just 3.5 seconds shy of fourth place at the end of the event.

“It was never going to be an easy weekend, but Phil has done an incredible job – jumping in at the last minute and getting us through without incident,” said 29 year-old Evans, of Dinas Mawddwy.

“We’ve collected solid points, which is what we came here to do. There is still a lot of work to do as far as the Championship is concerned, but at least we can go to Argentina in a positive frame of mind and try to push for a strong result.”

Evans’ M-Sport teammates Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia meanwhile delivered another stunning performance in securing their third victory of the year, behind the wheel of their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.

Showcasing impressive speed throughout the first day of competition, the pairing controlled the lead thereafter to claim the win, and extend their advantage at the head of the FIA World Rally Championship for both drivers and co-drivers.

“It’s been a fantastic weekend for us and another superb performance from Sébastien and Julien,” commented M-Sport Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE.

“In Mexico, we witnessed one of their best ever drives, so to come here and repeat it on asphalt – well, you can image how that lifts the whole M-Sport team.”

He added: “Elfyn and Phil also did a remarkable job in the circumstances. Obviously we were all hoping that Dan would be fit, but his fitness comes first and we were really thankful that Phil Mills was able to step in and do such a good job.

“Naturally it took them a while to get used to one another, but they got better and better as the event went on – and it gives Elfyn a good platform to build on.”

The Frenchman led the Corsica linea - Tour de Corse from start to finish to win the three-day asphalt fixture by 36.1sec in his Ford Fiesta.

It was his second success on the Mediterranean island’s mountain roads and came 10 years after the five-time world champion secured the junior world title at the rally. He heads the championship by 17 points.

Ogier made his indications clear by winning Friday morning’s opening speed test. Three fastest times out of four earned him a lead of more than half a minute and afforded him the luxury of managing his pace over the final two legs.

"I’m very happy with our performance here. It was a great, great day on Friday and that’s where we built the platform for this win," said Ogier.

"It’s never easy controlling your pace rather than driving flat out, but everything feels better and better in this car."

Ott Tänak finished second in a Toyota Yaris. The Estonian restarted today with just a tenth of a second in hand over Thierry Neuville.

He distanced the Belgian in the marathon 55km opening test and widened the gap to 31.4sec as Neuville encountered problems.

Esapekka Lappi lost time after hitting a kerb on SS11. He limped through the final test with engine troubles in his Hyundai i20 and was grateful to hold a large advantage over team-mate Dani Sordo. He finished 55.1sec clear of the Spaniard.

Sordo and Elfyn Evans were never split by more than a handful of seconds all weekend. The Welshman had to settle for fifth in his Fiesta, a fine result alongside 2003 world champion co-driver Phil Mills in his first WRC rally in almost eight years.

There was final day heartbreak for Esapekka Lappi. The Finn thrust himself into the fight for second yesterday, but his hopes were shattered when he hit a kerb and stopped to change a punctured tyre. Ironically Neuville hit the same kerb but escaped.

Lappi plunged to seventh, but salvaged maximum bonus points by winning the final Power Stage in his Yaris as well as overhauling Andreas Mikkelsen to climb to sixth.

It was a disappointing weekend for the Norwegian who struggled with his i20’s handling throughout.

WRC 2 winner Jan Kopecký finished eighth ahead of Kris Meeke, who restarted today after last night’s accident. Yoann Bonato completed the leaderboard.

The Championship returns to gravel roads for YPF Rally Argentina, which is based in Villa Carlos Paz on 26-29 April.