2007 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally champion Guy Wilks was encouraged by his first competitive outing in his JAS Motorsport-run Honda Civic Type R R3 rally car last weekend.
Wilks, who is supplementing his programme in the BRC this year by taking in five international events with the Civic, was running in an excellent fourth place overall and was strongly leading the 2WD class on the Rally of Canberra in Australia at the end of day one.
The second leg however didn't go to plan and he was forced out due to a transmission problem, which halted his Civic in its tracks.
While disappointed to retire, Guy was still, however, happy with his form on the event, which was part of the Australian Rally Championship and the
FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
"It was a real pity we were forced out, as we could have achieved something quite special here without a doubt. Before the rally started, we had absolutely no idea what to expect. So to come here and get in the top five straight away, against really strong local opposition, is absolutely fantastic," he reflected.
"The way the rally ended was extremely annoying, but on the positive side I think we have shown that the pace is definitely there, and I'm very much looking forward to my next outing in the car."
JAS Motorsport team boss Alessandro Mariani meanwhile also had mixed feelings: "We're all very frustrated about the transmission failure, which was the only thing that prevented the Civic from achieving an extremely impressive result on its debut in Australia," he added.
"We thoroughly enjoyed the experience though and we are fully committed to our next round on the Australian Championship [the NGK Rally of Melbourne, which runs from October 18-19]."
Wilks' focus now shifts back to the BRC and the second round in the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship - the
Jim Clark International Rally, next week.
![Guy Wilks / Phil Pugh - Honda Civic Type R R3. Rally of Canberra. APRC [Pic credit: Linear Photographs]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/439069.jpg)
