Finland was mental!

As you can see from day one the pressure was on for a result and that's what we gained.... a fantastic one!!

Myself, David and the team were on cloud nine and I think some of them still are!

I have been working hard on the Wilks 500 club over the last week . . . although I did have one run out in a rally car.... a special one as well!

I've been giving Dave Weston jnr a bit of tuition and his dad asked me after he'd been sidelined with neck injury to drive his 05 focus on the Speyside.

One of the cars I used last year in fact. I received the call at 13.30 Friday for a 09.00 start........ in Elgin, 5 hours drive north!!

Anyway all was sorted so up we ventured! Co driving was Dave Robson, Weston snr's usual partner (in car)..... (in rally car)...

All was going well until a stall in the first forest stage and 15 seconds were lost when I inadvertently knocked the ignition off going for the starter!

A few set-up changes later and starting to get into organisers notes again the rhythm was good although commitment not the usual level.

I think you can appreciate the last thing I wanted to do was bend it when Dave had been so generous to get the car out for spectators, organisers and, of course, me!

Meticulous preparation from Mr Robson and a calm voice ensured that we were able to take 13 seconds in 4.9 miles in SS5. We were looking forward to the rest of the afternoon.

Unfortunately SS6 and only a mile in the engine failed, a disappointing end for all. But thanks Dave snr, thanks Mr Robson and thanks to the guys at Ramsport.

Busy schedule from now until Ulster but I can't wait!
 
 

Guy

 

A long day and not the easiest...nevertheless, it is very pleasing that we are leading two-wheel-drive, which includes all the JWRC boys...it's really cheesing them off with us being in an R3 car!

A few small problems but nothing major. One bent wheel. Rough stages on the second pass not so nice on the car. Slowed on stage seven by another car going off. But apart from that it's been a good day.

We wanted to stamp some authority on the last 22km stage - and we did it in style.

Dave and the team are doing a great job...we are all set for a big day tomorrow!

Guy

What a week on the island! Not quite the result wanted or needed, but a least we came home with 2nd place points.

It was a sunny start and the slicks were on for the Thursday evening start, all was going well fastest on all the first three stages and looking forward to the long run through Cringle and over the top of the mines when........... you guessed it, RAIN!!!

Not a problem everybody is on a slick so I said to David lets just take it as it comes. All was going well until 3miles in to the stage slowing from 110mph in 5th to 50mph in 3rd became a small drama..... the back of the car stepped out on some shiny tar and I had to dive to the inside of the road for grip when there was a 'bang!' Puncture and 8 miles to go.

Luckily, it was so wet nobody could push so hard but after a spin we'd lost over 20 seconds to Mark in the stage.

Day two didn't start on the best footing, wrong tyres for the first loop followed by a small mistake by myself resulting in a broken wheel needing to be replaced in the stage.

We were now not fighting for a win but the best points we could get........ The fightback was on!!!!!!!

We were fastest on five out of the eight remaining stages even though the car was not running exactly straight for four of the eight! (My fault though.) We were now back to third BRC!

Day three was all about getting ahead of David, he was 20.9 seconds ahead. Through the first stage of the day 11 miles long we managed to overhaul David and take an advantage of 3.3 seconds.

We managed to extend that all the way to the end of the rally to 1.33.7.

This was not the ideal result, but it never is when your aim is to win. We'll take the points and move on to the Ulster knowing we had the pace to win!

Guy

Following our early exit from Rally Russia it was a race against time to catch numerous flights to get to the Goodwood Festival of Speed Ball.

It was almost totally thwarted by a distinct lack of hire cars at Heathrow but could I get us there before pumpkin status was begrudgingly achieved for my bell (Joke)!!!!

11.45 and we were arriving..... as some people were leaving!!!

It was important to get to Goodwood as it was the perfect place to formally launch the Wilks 500 Club.
 
The Ball was short but sweet with an hour and a half of good chat with some on a different level to my half a glass of white. Lord March always puts on the party of the year!!

Sunday and the alarm was pounding away, sleep has been short over the last week in Russia with near midnight sun, but up and at 'em as a busy day was ahead of us. The team met for breakfast and briefing.
The day went spankingly good. Fastest non-WRC car on the stage and a go in Steve Perez’s Audi S1 (Thanks once again Steve!).
 
But the main objective for the day was surpassed with emphatic style............. Not only did we manage to get the launch of the club televised live all over Goodwood but we actually managed to get our first investor!!....... Mr Steve Perez!!

All were overjoyed and the response was fantastic to the launch so the hard days are coming, not done.

I would like to thank all involved in the fantastic launch at Goodwood and especially two people.... ‘Stand up Rob Gill and take a bow son!’ (Said in Scottish style’e!) Your support and massive help is immense!!

The other is Mr Steve Perez - thanks for getting the ball rolling!!!!

Please join the Wilks 500 Club and back me. In a Subaru. In the WRC.

Guy

From Russia with love! But not so much...

A late arrival into St Petersbourg on a Sunday evening wasn’t too bad an idea, less of a queue at passport control, miss the traffic on my way to Vyborg, no queue at the hire car desk......... All was going well until I realised sat nav would be a good investment at the hire car desk!

My new Russian friend had never used the sat nav, I didn’t speak Russian which the sat nav was coincidentally set in!

So 50 minutes later and at midnight I was now northward bound through St Petersbourg - enough to keep any European on his toes!!!

Monday morning and...... well afternoon (I did have a lie in), and David Moynihan (replacing Phil here as Phil has pulled his....., is injured) shouldn’t be far away.

The border to Finland is only 40k away but David would be sitting there three hours before admittance to Russia!

It was soon apparent from the recce that this rally was not going to be easy but with plenty of competition our heads were down from the off.

Day one couldn’t have been better. All according to plan through the first four stages to pull a 22-second lead on Kris Meeke and Simon Jean-Joseph.
 
And to top it all off a ceremonial start in St Petersbourg........ after we’d already started, work that one out!!

Day two started as we’d left off and our lead was growing with each stage. David was doing a good job and was starting to relax. Just when we were well into our stride a shaft broke at the end of the 3rd stage and we still had one more to do before service.

One wheel drive for 29k is no fun but we were still moving until 5k from the finish. Total electrical failure (caused by a broken radiator fan cowling, very freak, but probably caused by rough roads)....... our run was coming to a standstill!

It took more than 5 minutes to find the problem so super rally rules would be used. Day three was short, a shaft problem put pay to any result but the positives must be taken.

Honda was leading a gravel rally within their category by a healthy margin against stern opposition, the performance is there we only have this one problem of drive shafts dogging us now.... the team are on to it!!!

Guy

The Guy Wilks program is all go!! July and August are a packed house in the diary!

Saturday 21st June and it's holiday time in France (with a Honda test in the middle of it), back from there on Tuesday 2nd July Mitsubishi test in Wales on 3rd Mobil 1 British F1 Grand Prix Garden Party on 5th off to Russia on the 6th for the IRC round in the Honda back from there on the 12th land in Heathrow and straight to Goodwood for the Saturday evening ball...... huuuuuhh... still with me... good! Then back home on the Sunday evening to the Isle of Man on the Tuesday in the Mitsubishi finish Manx on Saturday Sunday back home........ home for five days then off to Finland......!!!!

Great places, Fantastic people....good results = HAPPY TIMES!!!!

Must dash.

Guy

Back to it testing in Italy with J.A.S. and the Honda R3. A two-day gravel test in the north of Italy close to Turin.

The weather was warm and mixed making it very humid outside and very challenging inside the car! We were there to do some endurance work on some parts and also gain some more generic gravel set-up information and this we duly did.

The road was a good mix of rough, smooth and also twisty and tight...one might say it had everything, including a jump!! Check out the gallery for some photos very soon.

Phil wasn't present but I was flying the flag...the Union one! We had a really good hard test and the car stood up very well, if you remember from Australia we had a driveshaft failure, but the team have now solved that problem as we covered over 120km with no problems along with working on different aspects of the car.
 
.....I had a call yesterday from the engineer asking if I was able to test again next week in Italy, 'Yes'... then I thought, I'm supposed to be on holiday with my girlfriend in France then,....'Yes, no problem' I reply. Sarah will understand taking two days out of our holiday.... no really she is great! (Sarah doesn't know that I know she wants to sit in!!).

Anyway, the answer is Yes so I'm back off to Italy for two days testing.

On call 24/7...

Guy

The RallyShow at Chatsworth...cars, noise, smell and faces - lots of them. Champions past and present talked and mingled with the crowd.

I sometimes have to be reminded as to what we achieved last year, winning the British title in an epic battle after our two dropped scores, but that was 2007. It is now 2008.

It's nice to reflect on the past though and see the likes of Jimmy McRae, David Llewellin (not often seen these days!), Gwyndaf (nobody needs his second name), and many other great names and possibly my all-time favourite Ari Vatanen......LEGEND!!

I must congratulate Malcolm Neill on organising a fantastic event along with his team. I hope to be back again next year with my name next to 2008 on the big trophy!! Nice to see and meet so many people there, I promise to have a pen in my pocket next time!!!

Guy

Cooling down . . . not from a frayed temper, but as you know my Mitsubishi wasn't only red because of the paint on the Jim Clark.
 
All was going to plan. Three stages down and 6.5 seconds in the lead, it was 'under control'. We were not in full stride as the surface was difficult and it was important not to make an early mistake.

Stage 1 'Abbey St Bathans', an absolute classic of British rallying and our favourite stage in the UK. It has everything and lengthened for the 2008 challenge!

Off the line and if we needed any reminder that this stage is quick we only used third gear once and fourth three times in three miles!! The stage has everything and like I said push hard yes, risk no.

Even so the 16-mile stage was covered in 12.45 minutes, an average of over 75 mph.... AVERAGE!!!!!! On mainly single track roads this is an adrenalin rush of great proportions! 4.5 seconds lead over Mark was nice as it is never easy to take big time on this rally.

Stage 2 and the surface was proving difficult, slight dust worked into a very dry surface was causing understeer that was just too much to push hard and hold the car on an exact line, so we decided to back it off and get to service losing a second to fastest. This was after all the stage that bit us last year in the rain!

Changes made and on stage three normal service was resumed. Fastest by 3.5 or so. We were now starting to get into our stride.

Or so we thought.

Stage four and literally off the line something was wrong. Noise but no ill-handling. We had definite cause for concern. Conversation was flowing between the notes and then at the first braking area 'banging', I knew it was bad but still couldn't fathom the problem.

Ignore it as we may three miles later the bang and noise couldn't be!! I told Pughie to watch the fuel gage this time I knew what it was, PROP SHAFT FAILURE!

We noticed straight away the fuel was disappearing faster than it should. The tank had been split by the flailing prop and we were now also loosing drive!! Aarrrgggghh!!!!!!!!!! I battled to try and get to the finish of the stage and possible safety only 700 metres away.

It wasn't happening. A steep up hill and we came to a halt, no drive and Pughie leapt out to be greeted by flames, 'FIRE, FIRE GET OUT!'

Better had I thought as I too was shaking hands with licking red and orange flames as I opened the door!
David was next along and try as we might we were fighting a losing battle as the fire grew. It was time to admit defeat - something I never do, but this time sense had to prevail.

Gutting watching a car burn like that............. as they say the rest is history. Twenty points lost, but the main thing as always we are here safe and ready to get back and fight!

 

Guy

...with some cricket in between!

It's all go!! Just over a week since we returned from mixing it with the kangaroos and we have just arrived at the hotel for the Jim Clark.

We got back from Canberra last Tuesday and then it was a 4am start on Wednesday to travel to Wales for our pre-event Mitsubishi tarmac test!...No time to get back in the time zone then??!

It was a really good day's testing. The car hasn't changed much from last year but I now know it so much better, so we did change a few things.

The rest of the week was spent getting paperwork together and event reports written, the weekend had to be kept free....ish (a game of cricket on saturday afternoon, opened batting!!.... but only scored 5!) as I had to spend some quality time/evening out with my girlfriend, remembering I have been away for two weeks!

Tuesday was supposed to be spent re-fitting my dampers to my recce car but a delay in the re-build was quickly turned into a day of retail therapy by somebody, luckily enough and for a change it revolved around me!

Wednesday/today, dampers to re-fit, tyres to build on to rims and fit and load the bag...s...s....s. So much to carry! Well it's 23.47 and it's time to hit the pillow, recce tomorrow!!

Guy

Kangaroo dodging and parrot spotting

G'day!! Just finished the recce for Rally of Canberra and back to hotel for a shower, DUST!!!

Not so much rain has fallen in the past months so the roads are dry, varying surfaces mainly dry mud and some hard base stages similar to Greece.

We're both looking forward to it even though the terrain favours 4WD there are a couple of fast flowing stages.

Shakedown tomorrow then the ceremonial start in the Oz capital should be good! So until then, kangaroo dodging on the main road and parrot spotting will keep us out of mischief!!

Guy

Pirelli party . . . then off to Milan

Saturday night and the job is done! We celebrated our Pirelli Rally win by joining Pirelli and their VIP guests for a meal in Carlisle - and a little aperitif (or two) with Ryan Champion and our girlfriends.
 
Not too much time to dwell though. I was back home mid-Sunday and packing my bags for Italy... well, I did try to stare my clothes into submission for three hours but they didn't jump in the bag!!

04:30 Monday and the birds are all... asleep!! Off to the airport and Italy to meet my new team (JAS Motorsport) and car (Honda Civic Type-R R3) and of course Phil. He loves Italian food and talked his way over!

Tuesday - full test day to sort our seat positions and all the usual stuff as well as familiarise ourselves with our new ride! Brief but worth it, nice car, nice team and nice cuisine. A good start!!

Well, it's over and out from me now. I'm off to sleep as I've got another 04:30 start to come home. Next week Phil and I are off Down Under. We can't wait!!

G'day!
 

Guy

Kielder shakedown for BRC opener

The wait is over! Five months off is a long time to think about a new championship season, but here we are.

The drive up to Kielder forest always signals the start of the rallying year in Britain with myself and the Mitsubishi team undertaking our pre-event test and what a drive it is.

Beautiful scenery line the road as the my mind fills with anticipation of the year ahead on my way to meet the team - Phil (Pugh) and my new team-mates for a pre-season meal on the eve of the test.

Day One and the sun is shinning intermittently as we head on to the test road. Myself and Phil are having a slightly late start as our car has been under pressure to be finished back in the workshop.

Nevertheless, we are up and running just after lunch and keen to make the most of the day and in the meantime have made our pace notes for the stage. We make steady progress and the road is good.

It's slightly loose on top but a hard base underneath as a clean line appears and as a constant reminder to keep the mind focused the notorious ditches are always in sight!!

It's always difficult to find a huge change when testing a Group N car. It's more lots of small changes that will give you a benefit in making the car quicker, so myself and the engineer have already made a schedule to work through.

At the end of the day some lucky guests, ranging from sponsors to charity auction prize winners.... and my 'team manager' (he's just checking my progress), are given a high-speed ride through the stage. It's great for people to be able to sit in and get the experience first hand.

Test complete and it's time for the drivers to take some time out - so we all head to the sauna and pool!

Day two and the weather is distinctly closing in. A bright journey to a new road just north of Kielder village is soon dampened on arrival to the stage! Engine and damper work were the main priorities for day one so day two is all about...other stuff!! (top secret)

Mileage is the key and checking our setting from yesterday on slightly different terrain and surface with the added advantage of a wet road as well. The day starts well but by lunch the road is starting to degrade fast with the help of some heavy downpours and the increased running intensity of the cars through the stage.

Soon deep ruts are starting to appear as I've being using the ditches in places to get extra lateral grip as I'm pushing hard all morning to really test the car. It is after all only one day old! By mid afternoon everybody is happy, drivers, engineer, even the mechanics as they've watched their last four weeks of hard work be pushed to the max on gravel only hours after being completed!

Lights, Camera, Action...The local news have turned up!!! They've come to see me I'm told! They've been told that a local British champion is in the forest today testing to defend his crown.

I can't wait to see how it comes over on TV. They were really pro-active with in-car, on-stage footage, interviews - the lot!! It's always great to get rallying on the local news especially when I'm surrounded by three Premiership teams in the North East.

So a big thank you to TyneTees Television for making such an effort, the 'boys' for putting in the hard hours to get the cars there and everybody else in the team - including you Blunkett, you big power lifter! Less than a week to go now to make all the effort pay off. BRING IT ON!!!!!

Guy