by Rob Wilkins


TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH GUY WILKS: CLICK HERE


Mitsubishi's Guy Wilks has had a mixed start to the defence of BRC crown and while he dominated the Pirelli - round one of 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, he was forced out on the Jim Clark last month, when his car caught fire on SS4. Crash.net Radio caught up with the Englishman recently to get his thoughts on his year to date and to chat about the next event on the Isle of Man in July...



Crash.net:
Guy, we are two events in and so far you have had quite contrasting results.

Guy Wilks:
We have gone from highs to lows. The first round was very good for us and obviously we had a resounding win - Phil [Pugh – my co-driver], Mitsubishi and I. We were hoping to follow on from that and win the Jim Clark, especially after last year's mishap. We were out to make amends. But unfortunately it was taken out of our hands.

Crash.net:
How disappointing was it to have that fire on SS4 of the Jim Clark?

GW:
I was gutted. Phil and I knew we had the pace to win it. We know we have the pace to win every event in the British championship this year and we were determined to try and make amends for the one mistake we made last year. We are very well motivated for this year and it was a big kick in the teeth when we had a problem at the start of stage four. We hadn't spat the dummy out. We were just trying to carry the problem in the rear differential. It was making a noise and 3 or 4 miles later it momentarily seized. Then the prop-shaft snapped and when it was flailing, which was maybe only for five or six hundred metres before we stopped, it managed to rupture the fuel tank and with the hot exhaust, the fuel was spraying onto that. It was bad enough we had a problem. But ultimately it wasn't as bad as the end result - the fire and the car being totally wreaked.

Crash.net:
I guess the main consolation was that you had good pace before and it wasn't your fault…

GW:
Exactly. I was really, really frustrated though and Phil was trying to calm me down. Even before the fuel tank was ruptured I knew it wasn't our fault. I knew we had done nothing wrong. We did have the pace and Abbey St Bathans is one of my favourite stages in the world - never mind the British championship. I think it is the best stage in the BRC. We knew it was important to have a good start there, although we hadn't really pushed ourselves too hard. We had a good start and we took maybe 4 seconds out of Mark [Higgins] on the first stage. On the second stage we had a slight handling problem - a lot of understeer - and we just backed off to make sure we didn't make any silly mistakes. It was hard for me to push the car because the understeer was quite heavy. Stage 3 we managed to get it sorted - or at least going in the right direction. We made another small change for stage 4, but obviously it didn't make much difference after the problem we had.

Crash.net:
The next event now is the Rally Isle of Man. Have you got any testing before then?

GW:
Not as yet. Obviously the team are desperate to try and sort something out. I am going to be reverting back to last year's car, although the team is going to up spec it. I don't have a problem with that. It is an Evo 9 and people harp on about so and so has a three year old Subaru or a four year old Subaru. But the Evo 9 is three or four years old as well. Obviously this year's car was a brand new one and we are going to have a year old car. But it doesn't make much difference. It will still be a good car and we are hoping to have a small test before the Isle of Man. But I have got quite a hectic schedule outside of the British championship. It is just a case of trying to fit it all in.

Crash.net:
Will you be reverting to the older car just for the Isle of Man or for the rest of the year?

GW:
For the rest of the year I think. We will be three events into a six round championship then [Wales Rally GB counts as two events - Ed]. I haven't really spoken about that with the team as yet. Obviously I am not bothered about the UIster, Trackrod and Wales yet. The next one is the Manx and we need to do what we did last year. We are in the same position as 2007 - with a win and a dropped score. We need to re-address the balance straight away on the Isle of Man. We go there - it is not pressure as such, but we know what we have to do. It is just a case of getting on and doing it - and making sure we win.

Crash.net:
Last year you led home a Mitsubishi 1-2 on the Isle of Man. You will be looking for the same sort of thing I take it.

GW:
Yeah, if I am honest, that kind of result would be really nice for the team. It is really hard on the team as well. Phil [Morrow – my team-mate] made an error on the first stage and we didn't have a good weekend at all. It would be nice for the team to have something like that and I think they need it a little bit. But at the same time, things like this always pull people together too. When you have a bit of a drama or a travesty like this, you have got to all pull together tighter and get on with the job. I think it will only make us stronger. We have just got to get our heads down and fight back.

Crash.net:
What is the Rally Isle of Man like as an event?

GW:
Very demanding. It is similar - but different to the Jim Clark. It is a very high speed tarmac event. It is very challenging with the narrow lanes and bumpy tracks - you don't tend to have a high percentage of stages like that on the Jim Clark, where as on the Isle of Man you get lots of them. It is a long event - high mileage. Again we will be testing our transmissions to the full. Let's hope that it holds out.

Crash.net:
How big a role could the weather play there?

GW: