Elfyn Evans shrugged off an engine issue to hold onto sixth place at Rally Sweden on Sunday.

The Dolgellau-born flier continued his encouraging start to the season having also finished sixth on his comeback in Monte Carlo last month.

It also equalled his best result on the championship’s only fully all-snow round.

Evans is also sixth overall after two events this year with 18 points – 30 behind new championship leader Jari-Matta Latvala.

Evans was running 12th after a problem on stage four when his DMACK Ford Fiesta ploughed into a snow bank.

He smashed a chunk out of the rear wheel in the process and was forced to limp to the end of the stage and dropped back to 12th place.

But he gradually made his way back up the standings despite the engine issue on the final day.

The 28-year-old said: “Overall it’s been an encouraging weekend after having limited testing before the rally.

“Our pace was strong on the first day but unfortunately the mistake dropped us time and also meant we were disadvantaged by running at the front of the field.

“However, it’s another good haul of points, we are sixth in the championship and I’m confident as we head to the more traditional gravel events.”

Evans was unable to add to the three fastest times he set on the Monte, but will relish the warmer weather of Mexico next month.

The performance was a significant leap forward for DMACK and signalled the firm’s intention to target front-running pace on all events and surfaces this season.

Dick Cormack, DMACK managing director, said: “In general, we were very happy with the performance of our new DMG-ICE2 tyres.

“We have showed a very competitive pace once again with the new cars when on a level playing field.

“The stud retention and tyre performance was extremely good all event, however, Elfyn’s mistake on Friday meant he lost road position and ended up running behind the narrower world rally cars.”