UPDATED10/03/14: Elfyn Evans comments
Newcomer Elfyn Evans secured his best World Rally Championship finish when he clinched fourth place on Rally Mexico on Sunday.
The Welshman, who is competing in his first full WRC season with M-Sport, had been under orders from the team to finish the event, but his efforts surpassed all expectations and he now stands fifth in the drivers championship table after three events.
Elfyn Evans is showing impressive speed in his first full WRC season
Evans was more than happy with his performance in Mexico, saying: "I certainly didn’t come here expecting to finish fourth – simply to finish would have been an achievement given how little experience we have on these kinds of stages and how many of the top drivers were caught out!
"We put in some strong performances on some individual stages and identified a few areas for improvement as the weekend went on. It’s all part of the learning curve and we’re really looking forward to Portugal."
World champion Sebastien Ogier moved back to the top of the driver rankings after picking up his second win of the season, overtaking VW team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala who finished second, while Thierry Neuville eared Hyundai their first podium finish with a strong third place, 1m20s ahead of Evans.
Ogier's domination of one of the WRC's most difficult events was clear through winning 14 of the 22 stages, with Ostberg claiming five and Latvala two. It was Ogier's second Mexico win in two years.
Kris Meeke was the only other driver man to win a stage but the Briton failed to finish after crashing on the final stage - he had been lying in fifth place.
Former F1 driver Robert Kubica was another who failed to finish after rolling his car for the second time on day two.