Reigning British Rally champion Guy Wilks failed to finish the
Jim Clark International Rally last weekend, after his Lancer Evo IX caught fire in the fourth stage.
Wilks went into the event, the second round in the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, eager to do well having dominated the Pirelli International Rally last month, and the early signs were very promising for the Mitsubishi man.
Indeed he stormed through the first stage to lead the BRC field by 4.7 seconds and such was his pace he also held second position overall amongst the WRC cars contesting the Global Group Irish Tarmac Championship, of which the Jim Clark Rally is also a round.
He was then second fastest to arch rival, Mark Higgins in SS2, before taking another stage win in SS3 and extending his lead to 6.2 seconds.
Eyemouth 1 however, proved to be disastrous and as he left the start-line he heard a noise coming from his car's transmission. After a few miles the propshaft suddenly snapped, leaving him with front-wheel drive only and, with the flying finish almost in sight, the car came to a halt on an up-hill section.
Getting out to see what could be done, the Englishman discovered flames coming from underneath the car, where the flailing propshaft had ruptured the fuel tank.
Co-driver, Phil Pugh quickly exited the Mitsubishi and, although other competitors stopped to help, try as they might they could not extinguish the flames. Within seconds their once pristine Lancer was engulfed by fire and continued to burn until there was nothing left other than the chard remains of the metal shell.
"The rally started really well for us. I didn't feel we had pushed too hard in the first stage, so to take the lead at what I regarded was a comfortable pace was just what we wanted," reflected Guy.
"Once the propshaft had broken I was knew there was a possibility of it damaging the fuel tank, so I drove with that in mind, but I was unaware of the fire until I got out of the car.
