ELFYN Evans and Daniel Barritt have been rightly heralded ‘team mates of the year’ after playing a significant role as M-Sport’s Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia defended the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Brits played their part selflessly on the final round at Kennards Hire Rally Australia when, having handed the Frenchmen a more advantageous road position, at the detriment to themselves, they showed good speed, despite looser conditions.

When road cleaning wasn’t a contributing factor, Evans, from Dinas Mawddwy, showed his pace to set a string of top times through the super special stages.

It’s not been the season the Welshman had hoped for, but he has shown his speed and played his role admirably - helping the team defend two of their FIA World Rally Championships.

After finishing the rally in sixth position, and seventh overall in the drivers’ championship, Evans said: “Congratulations must go to Seb, Julien and the whole team.

“I’m glad they were able to secure this one and - even though it wasn’t always easy - I’m glad we were able to help them where we could. Obviously for various reasons our season didn’t go the way we wanted, but the speed was there and hopefully we’ll have a chance to prove that again next year.”

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia secured their sixth FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers after a dramatic final-day showdown.

Ogier and Ingrassia headed into the final day of competition knowing that a sixth place finish was all they needed to win the title.

Doing what they needed to do in a sensational fight that went down to the wire, the pressure was on Ogier’s main rivals and, one by one, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak hit trouble - each caught out whilst refusing to give up the fight and pushing admirably through the treacherous conditions.

That meant Ogier and Ingrassia had done it - defending the crown they secured with the Ford Fiesta WRC 12 months previous. The result was the perfect way for the team to say farewell to their champions after two very special years together.

“It’s been an incredible season and the fight has been so close,” said Ogier.

“Not so long ago we thought it was going to be difficult to take the title again, but we never gave up.

“We gave it everything and had such an amazing team around us. I am so proud of all of them and of course I want to thank Malcolm Wilson for another amazing job.

“What we achieved together over the past two years has been special, and I am very proud of that.”

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “It’s been an emotional day and I can tell you that this championship really does mean a lot.

“Two months ago it wasn’t looking good, but when you have Sébastien and Julien in your team you always know that anything is possible.

“The way they fought back over the last three events was incredible and I am so proud of all we have achieved. We will miss them next year, but this was a proper team effort and I have to say every member of the team played their part.”

Overall Classification: 1. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:59:52.0; 2. Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +32.5; 3. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 WRC) +52.2; 4. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:02.3; 5. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:30.8; 6. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:05.1; 7. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen C3) +8:59.0.

Top 10 Drivers’ Championship Standings: 1. Sébastien Ogier 219 2. Thierry Neuville 201; 3. Ott Tänak 181; 4. Jari-Matti Latvala 128; 5. Esapekka Lappi 126; 6. Andreas Mikkelsen 84; 7. Elfyn Evans 80; 8. Hayden Paddon 73; 9. Dani Sordo - 71; 10. Mads Østberg - 70.