Blundell enjoys rally debut

An eventful day for Blundell and co-driver Bob McKenzie, a motorsport journalist, included tipping their car onto its side, but ended up with a seventh place in class for the duo in their MG ZR.

Blundell enjoyed his first taste of the grueling sport."What an experience!" he enthused. "I've thoroughly enjoyed the day. It's been full of action - we had gear selector trouble which left me stuck in third for about eight miles of a stage, a driveshaft problem which, thankfully, the MG boys were able to quickly sort out at a service stage, and I topped this by managing to put the car on its side! All in all, a steep learning curve. It was a bit of a baptism of fire, but a very useful day in terms of gaining experience of forest stage rallying.

"After only 45 minutes at the wheel at Silverstone last week, it was good to get through this first event with the car intact and to reach the finish. Now, I can concentrate on developing my rally driving technique and working towards improving my stage times. Bob and I immediately developed an easy rapport in the car, which helped to quickly give confidence to push harder as the day progressed. I hope I didn't scare him too much!"

Blundell and McKenzie will continue their build-up to the Network Q Rally by competing in the Tempest Stages event in Aldershot, Hampshire next weekend