About Guy
GUY is determined to follow in the wheel tracks of British rally heroes, the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns, and become Britain's next world rally champion. He was crowned 2007 British Rally Champion after scoring a maximum 100 points for five wins driving for Mitsubishi Motors UK. And he registered four successive top 10 finishes as a privateer in the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship – including sixth on Rally Ireland. But Guy's talents as a gifted natural sporstman were evident right from an early age...
The School Years
At just 7 years of age Guy was encouraged to develop his passion for sport through the captaincy of the rugby, cricket and cross-country teams at Barnard Castle School.
He was later captain of Barnard Castle School cricket team, a key player in the 1st XV rugby team and a star player in the squash team – reaching the last four in the national schools' finals.
He also represented County Durham under-15s at squash and cricket.
Away from school, Guy competed in motor cycle trials and finished joint first at one event with a lad who went on to become a British champion!
And no doubt his ultra-competitiveness was sharpened by having three sports-minded brothers - Josh, Tim and Joe.
Guy left school with nine top grade GCSEs and two A-Levels and joined the family car sales and petrol business.
The rally bug
Guy's father Philip was an ex-rally driver who finished runner-up to Mark Lovell in the 1983 RS Turbo Championship.
But Guy was 19 before he first sat behind the wheel of a rally car. He decided to test himself at the nearby Chris Birkbeck Rally School - and the instructors were immediately impressed.
Just four weeks later, Guy found himself competing in a Ford Ka in his first rally - the Jack Frost Stages at Croft. He finished 14th after lying 4th after two stages in the wet and icy conditions.
Guy signed up for the British Ford Ka Championship and by the end of the year was crowned Junior Ford Ka Champion, class A5 national champion and the Genesis Design Formula 1400 Champion, which secured him a place as a Roger Clark Award finalist.
The following season Guy took the next step on the Ford Racing Ladder of Opportunity and moved up to the Ford 1400 Puma Rally Championship. He missed out on the title by an incredible 0.7 seconds on the final rally of the season.
Ford were impressed by his speed and, in 2002, Guy was asked to join the Ford British Junior Rally Team to contest the Super 1600 British Rally Championship in a Ford Puma.
It was a season of highs and lows, but a determined Guy finished the championship in third place.
Guy also made his WRC debut on the snow and ice in Sweden in 2002 but retired after the bottom arm broke on his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.
In 2003, Ford offered Guy the use of a Ford Rallye Sport Puma Super 1600 for the seven-round Junior World Rally Championship, supported by Chris Birkbeck Rally Sport.
He did not disappoint and after an exciting year he ended his debut season in the JWRC in seventh place with two podium finishes in Turkey and Finland.
Switch to Suzuki
Suzuki had been closely monitoring Guy's rapid progress and signed him up for the 2004 Junior World Rally Championship and the Japanese manufacturer's UK debut on four wheels in the British Rally Championship.
Guy scored two JWRC wins in Greece and Britain driving the Suzuki Ignis S1600 and went into the final round, Catalunya, leading the JWRC title race.
A measured drive saw him start the final leg in third place, good enough to clinch the title, but he was caught out by standing water on slick tyres and slid off the road.
Guy was gutted - but his performances that year still earned him third place in the Junior World Rally Championship and the consolation of being crowned British Super 1600 Champion and British Junior Champion after a string of fine drives on home soil.
In 2005, Guy contested 13 WRC rounds for Suzuki Sport Europe - seven JWRC rounds and six non-JWRC rounds to build up Guy's experience of the world championship and to develop the Suzuki Swift S1600.
A series of consistent results including victory in Mexico and podium finishes in Greece (2nd), Finland (3rd) and Germany (3rd) saw Guy emerge as runner-up in the JWRC.
He also scored class A6 victories in Cyprus with the Ignis and in front of thousands of fanatical Suzuki fans in Japan with the new Swift.
In 2006, Guy's determination to land the JWRC crown saw him enter a private Suzuki Ignis S1600 on selected rounds of the British Rally Championship to keep match-fit as Suzuki cut back its JWRC budget to develop the SX4 world rally car.
He scored dominant JWRC wins in Argentina and then Finland - and in doing so became the first Brit to ever win an FIA category at the spiritual home of rallying.
But once again Guy was cruelly denied the JWRC crown on the final round of the series - this time on Wales Rally GB. Guy was leading the Super 1600 category on the second leg when his Suzuki Swift suffered transmission failure.
It was a heart-breaking end to the season but Guy's grit, hunger and determination to succeed was as strong as ever and he was soon making plans for 2007.
The WRC debut
Guy had proved his speed in a Super 1600 car and decided another year in the JWRC category would be a wasted year. Now he needed to make the next step and show his speed in the sport's top category - in a world rally car.
Guy put together a private deal to drive a Ford Focus RS WRC04 on selected WRC rounds with backing from Mobil1 and The Sun.
He crashed in Norway and Portugal, but bounced back with a ninth place finish on Acropolis Rally Greece.
A massive 172kph jump on Rally Finland damaged the hydraulics on the Focus - and damaged Guy's back - but heroically he still finished in ninth place.
Guy made his WRC asphalt debut on Rally Germany next but got off to a disastrous start. He was lying 100th and last after the opening test after the brakes locked solid mid-stage. An incredible fightback saw him post 10 top 10 stage times and finish 10th overall.
Guy rounded off his maiden WRC season in fine style on Rally Ireland - scoring his first WRC points on arguably the trickiest event of the year with a sixth place finish in a Subaru Impreza WRC2005.
Back home, Guy drove for Mitsubishi Motors UK in the production-based British Rally Championship and clinched the title with victories on the Pirelli, Rally Isle of Man, Rally Yorkshire and double points-scoring Wales Rally GB. He also won the PWRC category on Rally GB and finished 13th overall.
Guy is defending his British crown with Mitsubishi Motors UK in 2008 and will also showcase the Honda Civic Type-R R3 for Italy's JAS Motorsport on selected world events.