BBC SPORT | Motorsport | World Rally | Blundell aims to see finish

Mark Blundell just wants to finish when he makes his debut in the Rally of Great Britain.

The former Grand Prix driver is determined to beat the performance of his friend and former colleague Martin Brundle when he takes part in next week's event in an MG.

Brundle, an ex-Formula One team-mate of Blundell at the now-defunct Ligier team, failed to finish the rally six years ago.

Blundell said: "The last ex-F1 driver to finish the rally was Tiff Needell in 1996. Before that, it was Derek Bell in 1988.

Rallying can make F1 look very tame

Mark Blundell

"My good mate, Martin Brundle, competed in 1996 but he didn't make it to the end, so I definitely want to try and get one up on him.

"We need to keep out of trouble and with a bit of luck, we hope well see the finish on the Sunday."

Blundell, who has also raced in sportscars and the US-based Cart series, knows he faces a tough task in the Welsh forests once the event starts in Cardiff on 14 November.

He crashed his car last month twice while trying to gain rallying experience.

"I don't underestimate the difficulty of the event and from my - very limited - competition experience, I already have tremendous respect for the world rally boys, as this driving is so on the edge," Blundell said.

"Rallying can make F1 look very tame. When you're going 85 mph and faced with a 180 degree hairpin, a one-in-four gradient and a near vertical drop on one side, it is hairy stuff."

Mark Blundell poses with his MG rally car
Blundell has crashed twice on warm-up events

Blundell put the MG on its side during the Bulldog Rally and then dropped it into a ditch on another practice event.

Blundell knows he cannot hope to compete for overall victory because his car is to a different specification from the Peugeots and Fords that compete on the world stage.

But he believes he can compete with other cars in the MG's class.

"It's been a crash course in rally driving for me over the last few weeks, in more ways than one," he said.

"But I'm hoping I've made all my rookie errors now and can keep the car on the road for this, the real challenge.

"The MG ZR Super 1600 is a great car and there's no reason why were not turning in competitive stage times, apart from my lack of experience, of course."