Perfect start to British title defence

GUY and co-driver Phil Pugh scored a dominant victory on today's Pirelli International Rally, the opening round of the 2008 British Rally Championship.

The reigning British champions led from start to finish in their Mitsubishi Evo IX - winning 12 out of 13 stages in the super-fast Kielder Forest complex.

Finn Juho Hanninen (Mitsubishi) was second, 1min 5.5secs adrift, with David Higgins third, 2mins 40.8secs slower in a Subaru N14.

Guy and Phil's triumph also means they become the first crew to claim back-to-back Pirelli victories since Malcolm Wilson/Terry Harryman (Ford Escort) in 1979/1980.

Guy, speaking at the finish ramp in Carlisle, told guywilks.com: "It was a real honour to have No1 on my door on my local rally - and we wanted to keep it!

"We did a professional job today and controlled things from the front. I'd like to thank Phil and all the team at Mitsubishi Motors UK and ADR Motorsport. It's the perfect start to the year for us."

PIRELLI INTERNATIONAL RALLY RESULTS:
1 G. WILKS (MITSUBISHI) 1hr 31min 42.9sec
2 J. HANNINEN (MITSUBISHI) +1 min 5.5sec
3 D. HIGGINS (SUBARU) +2:40.8
4 P. MORROW (MITSUBISHI) +2:58.2
5 P. FLODIN (SUBARU) +3:42.8
6 S. JONES (MG) +4:05.9
7 E. BRYNILDSEN (MITSUBISHI) +5:27.1
8 J. GREER (MITSUBISHI) +6:52.4
9 W. HUMPHREYS (MITSUBISHI) +7:44.3
10 J. WOZENCROFT (SUBARU) +9:24.8

BRC DRIVERS STANDINGS (after round one of six): 1 Wilks (GB) 20; 2 Hanninen (FIN) 18; 3 D Higgins (GB) 16; 4 Morrow (GB) 15; 5 Flodin (S) 14; 6 Jones (GB) 13; 7 Brynildsen (N) 12; 8 Greer (GB) 11; 9 Humphreys (GB) 10; 10 Wozencroft (GB) 9.