by Geoff Mayes
A year on from his debut victory in the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, Guy Wilks was once more the force to be reckoned with.
A winning margin of over a minute from Production Car World Rally Championship contender Juho Hanninen gives a small clue to Wilks' domination, but when you consider that he won every stage, bar one - which went to his team-mate, Phillip Morrow - you get an idea of the talent of the Mitsubishi man.
A star studded entry turned out in Carlisle for the opening round of the 2008 championship and the gathered fans were truly in for a treat.
As well as Wilks, the Higgins brothers - Mark and David, were both out in new cars. Mark, a triple British champion, was contesting the event in a privately entered MG Super 2000 Sport whilst his brother, the 2004 champ, was making the UK debut of the new Subaru Impreza N14.
Others hoping to challenge the favourites were Hanninen, Patrik Flodin and Eyvind Brynilsden.
Hanninen is contesting the full PWRC this year and was using the Pirelli to gain track time on gravel. Having recently won the Group N category on Rally Sweden this man is no slouch.
Swedish driver Flodin is a PWRC refugee and has chosen to tackle the British Rally Championship in a TEG Sport-run Subaru this year, whilst Brynilsden is a renowned Group N pilot back in his homeland of Norway.
The rally began with four stages on Friday night and with the route identical to the 2007 running, last years’ contestants had a slight advantage.
Wilks began as he meant to go on, topping the times through Stage 1, a second a mile faster than anyone else.
Second fastest, and a promising start for the new MG, was Mark Higgins, the little Super 2000 screaming through the stage just over a second faster than his brother. Hanninen was fourth fastest, just ahead of the second works Mitsubishi driver, Irishman Phillip Morrow.
Stuart Jones, in the works MG Super 2000, was annoyed with himself after running the entire stage without headlights.
"I thought it would still be light enough not to need them, but once we got going I realised my mistake, and then couldn’t reach the switch! Still, we didn’t drop too much time in there, so it’s not too bad," he noted.
