NGK-sponsored Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were denied a well-deserved victory at the World Rally Championship’s Tour de Corse after picking up a puncture through the final stage and having to settle for third place overall.

The M-Sport Ford World Rally team duo looked to have done enough on the final day of the rally in their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC car which is fitted with NGK spark plugs and NTK Lambda sensors. Leading into the final stage victory was only denied by the late puncture.

Elfyn Evans said, “Perhaps it’s not the result we wanted, but the pace is there, and I think we can all take confidence from that moving forward. We’ve had a pretty strong start to the season so far and I’ve been really happy with the Fiesta on all four of the opening rounds. The guys back at M-Sport are working exceptionally hard and making improvements all the time so I see no reason why we can’t continue this form into the coming events.”

Mark Hallam, Marketing Manager, NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd, said, “Elfyn and Scott were looking on course to record a well-deserved victory when the puncture occurred, but that’s racing. It was another impressive performance by them and Team-mates Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen and bodes well for the M-Sport Ford World Rally team for the rest of the season.”