Mick Harris, from Ashford near Staines, steered his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo home into 37th place overall 12th in class N4 on the Network Q Rally of Great Britain which finished in Cardiff on Sunday.

The 38-year-old amateur driver was co-driven by Paul Newman in the four-day, 1,000-mile event, won by outgoing world champion Marcus Gronholm.

Richard Burns (Subaru) finished third, over three minutes behind the winner, earning the Briton his maiden FIA World Rally Championship crown.

"We had a brilliant rally," said Mick. "We kept the car undamaged all the way until within 500 yards of the finish when I lost it and dented the car on a tree."

The race was marred by an accident involving Spain's Carlos Sainz who left the road in his Ford injuring 13 fans.