Patrik Sandell has raved about his Prodrive-run MINI John Cooper Works WRC after he tested the machine during a one-day session in his native Sweden on Sunday.
Sandell will contest his home round of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia this week with backing from the new Sweden World Rally Team, which has been established to help find the country’s next world champion.
“The car was really good from the start so we did not work so much with the set-up, but could concentrate on finding the feeling,” said Sandell following the test at co-driver Staffan Parmander’s facility near the town of Kall. “It’s roads I’ve driven on before and to start driving the car on a stage that I know already meant it was quicker for me to find the feeling and the confidence.”
Sandell, the 2006 Junior world champion, was also full of praise for the British Prodrive team. He said: “It is great to work with Prodrive, such a professional team. Our engineer, Teena [Gade], is really dedicated and talented. I felt that we got on very well very quickly and it will be really fun to work with her and Prodrive.”
Dani Sordo, who will drive a second Prodrive-run MINI in Sweden and completed his pre-event test on Saturday, said: “I am very satisfied after the test. I did not contest this rally last year and it’s two years since I last competed on ice so the distance we covered has helped. It will be difficult to keep up with the Nordic drivers but I will make every effort and fight to be as high as possible in the classification as on Rallye Monte-Carlo.”
Rally Sweden is based in Karlstad from 9-12 February.