The NGK-sponsored M-Sport World Rally Team's Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak have made a promising start to the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship.

Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt finished the Rallye Monte-Carlo in seventh place while Tänak and co-driver Raigo Mõlder finished a creditable 18th despite sliding off the road and down an embankment.

NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd, a supplier of original equipment (OE) spark plugs, glow plugs and NTK Lambda sensors to most of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, has a long partnership with M-Sport.

Marko Wowczyna, Automotive Director, NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd, said: "We are delighted to be continuing our successful relationship with M-Sport and after this encouraging start look forward to helping the team throughout 2015.

"Many of our customers are keen rallying fans and I am sure they will be following the championship closely over the coming months.”

Welshman Evans was in a strong fifth place – chasing fourth – in the rally when he clipped a wall through "Prunieres – Embrun 2" (SS11) and damaged the rear suspension of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Never willing to give up the fight, he and Barritt resourcefully fashioned a temporary repair which avoided retirement and kept them in the fight.

He proved he has the ability to challenge towards the head of the field with a third fastest time through "La Salle en Beaumont – Corps 1" (SS3) as well as a number of fastest split times.

Tänak also proved that he has the natural speed and ability to challenge for a podium as the season progresses. The Estonian and his compatriot co-driver Raigo Mõlder were running as high as second overall before being caught out by an unsighted patch of gravel after a crest through "Lardier et Valenca – Faye" (SS10).

His Fiesta RS WRC slid off the road down the side of a steep embankment, but Tänak refused to accept defeat. Rallying the enthusiastic spectators around him, the Estonian rejoined the stage and avoided what would have surely resulted in retirement for a less determined crew. Despite finishing in 18th place, the Estonian collected two manufacturer points which could make all the difference come the season's end. Elfyn Evans said: "There's a feeling of what could have been at the end of this event. The potential was definitely there to do more, but there were a couple of silly mistakes on my part – one of which was extremely costly. We had some very good tyre choices throughout the weekend, but then again some weren't quite so good so there are some things to learn.

"Overall the speed has been good and that is definitely a big positive that we can take from this weekend. We can also see where we went wrong which is important for the future and I'm looking forward to coming back and having another go at the event next year."