NEWCASTLE Emlyn’s James Williams finished a battling fourth at the gruelling Ypres Rally after power steering failure forced him into a ditch.

Despite limited testing before the event, Williams and co-driver Dai Roberts were taking the fight to the Belgian crews and sat third British Rally Championship crew after Friday’s stages as the confidence grew.

The steering failure forced their Fiesta Rally2 into a ditch on Saturday and the subsequent time lost extracting the Ford meant they dropped significantly down the order.

Fourth was little comfort for a sterling drive throughout the weekend.

Williams said: “It was a tough second day, but I am just delighted to get to the finish of this one.

“With all the issues we had, finishing Ypres was a challenge in itself.

“We didn’t want to give in and we kept fighting to the very end.

“When everything was OK, I was really pleased with my pace despite it being my first time here in a four-wheel-drive car.

“Onwards we go! Thank you everyone for the support in Belgium and back at home. It really means a lot!”

Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux secured his third Motorsport UK British Rally Championship win of the season, after a scintillating performance.

Ypres Rally is one of the most highly regarded rallies in the world, with breathtakingly fast stages and unforgiving cuts a feature of the two-day event.

The longest in the BRC calendar, it was always highly likely to throw up some surprises over the 137 miles, 18-stage rally; and it didn’t disappoint.

The BRC went head-to-head with its Belgian counterparts in the Belgian Rally Championship and the local heroes are often hard to beat on home turf.