First rally. First victory for GEMsport. First victory for Evans jnr

Rising Welsh rally star Elfyn Evans provided GEMsport with a cracking start to the 2008 season with victory in the Fiesta SportingTrophy on the Galway Rally.

And there was more success for GEMsport with team mate Meilyr Evans finishing an impressive fourth Fiesta in a tough and tricky rally.

Heavy rain, sleet and very slippery conditions greeted the Fiesta SportingTrophy crews and they only completed three of the scheduled six high speed tests.

But for 19 year old Elfyn the rally provided his first Fiesta victory – and a great start to his 2008 campaign which includes competing in the Fiesta championships both in Ireland and the UK.

But the victory was not without incident for Elfyn, son of rally legend Gwyndaf Evans who launched GEMsport last month.

“On the second stage we slid off the road and damaged the front wings and bumper but thankfully managed to avoid two concrete posts,’’ said Elfyn. “Then we had a puncture on the fourth of six stages which cost us some time.’’

Elfyn and co-driver Gareth Roberts were lying second going into the final stage but a storming stage time ensured victory for the Welsh duo in the hustings.com Fiesta.

For team mates Meilyr Evans and Andrew Edwards the event was a steep learning curve with extremely difficult conditions and a new car to learn.

“It was a tricky rally but I kept up a good pace and the hustings.com car was just superb,’’ said Meilyr.

Team boss Gwyndaf Evans was full of praise for the whole team.

“It has been an amazing start to the season,’’ he said. “Everything with hustings.com came together very quickly, we built and prepared the cars which never missed a beat and to secure victory is a dream start.’’

The team now heads to Cumbria for the first round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy in the UK – the Malcolm Wilson Rally on March 1 – and the team’s first outing on gravel.