PATRIK Sandell finished eighth at Rally Sweden and the highest placed local driver on his debut in the Banbury-built Prodrive Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

It was a strong debut for the Swede in his first outing in a World Rally Car with only established and far more experienced WRC drivers ahead of him.

Sandell was in eighth position after stage one and, except for one stage, maintained this position throughout the event.

There was disappointment in the Banbury team that Dani Sordo had to retire on Friday while he was running in fifth place. The loss of the water pump drive belt caused his engine to overheat, resulting in damage that meant he could not return.

Having led the rally after the first stage, Dani was showing a strong pace on the Mini WRC’s snow debut and the team fully expected him to maintain this fifth place for the event.

Team principal Dave Wilcock said: “Patrik has a very mature rallying head on his shoulders. He has maintained a consistent pace throughout the rally, managed his Michelin tyres very well and hasn’t put a mark on the car.

“He has achieved all his goals and to be honest, eighth place is a good as he and we could have hoped for on his debut with so many experienced WRC drivers ahead of him. I think he has a great future and I fully expect him to be challenging for podiums.”

Sandell said: “The balance of the Mini WRC has been really good and it is so easy to drive fast. Over the weekend my speed has been increasing and I hope next time out in a WRC to be in the top five and after that to aim for a podium.

“The way the Prodrive team has supported me has been fantastic and I have learnt so much from them. Without their support I don’t think I would have improved so much during the weekend.”

The Prodrive team will now return to Banbury to prepare for a development test on the Mini WRC later this month.

In March, the team will introduce a number of performance enhancements, before the Mini WRC’s next outing.