M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Adrien Fourmaux and Rhys Yates secured fourth and fifth places in the WRC2 event at last weekend’s Rally Sweden

Their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R5 MkIIs both showed form as they went head-to-head in the FIA World Rally Championship’s premier support series.

Securing fourth place, Fourmaux and co-driver Renaud Jamoul secured a strong haul of points but had the pace for more.

Setting the second fastest time through the first pass of Finnskogen (SS3), the young Frenchman showed his potential before a broken front-left damper on the first stage of Saturday morning (SS5) put paid to his efforts.

"This wasn’t the weekend we wanted, but I still think we can be happy with our performance," said Fourmaux.

"We showed that we have good pace when the conditions are more consistent, but we had a problem with the damper on Saturday. It was difficult to get back on the pace after that.

"But it’s all good experience and I can take a lot away from what was only my second event with an R5 car on gravel.”

Securing fifth place, Yates and co-driver James Morgan delivered a flawless drive and held their own against some of rallying’s most experienced winter-specialists.

Yates said: "There was a bit of head-scratching on Friday which was a short but long day for us.

"But we made a big change to the car in service and everything felt much better after that.

"We ended Saturday’s loop where we were hoping to start the rally, but you live and learn.

"The car and the team have been mega all weekend, and it’s another finish with some good mileage under our belts so I’m happy with that."