Wilks confident of Proton progress on Rally Russia

Guy Wilks Ypres Rally 2009 Wilks vows to bounce back after Ypres disappointment

British star Guy Wilks, who will contest his second IRC event this weekend at the wheel of the new Proton Satria S2000, is confident that the car will continue to improve following a promising debut in Belgium last month.

Wilks was unable to deliver on the potential of the new car after going off the road on the opening leg of the Belgium Ypres Rally, but the Englishman is confident that this weekend’s Rally Russia will mark another important step in the new car’s development curve.

“The car is still very new, so we’re improving and learning more with every kilometre we drive,” said Wilks, who was a former star of the Junior World Rally Championship. “Russia will be a really good experience for us, and a valuable chance to develop the Proton some more on gravel. We already found a few ideas that could help us in Belgium, and we’re looking forward to the chance of putting them into practice in Russia.”

Wilks will undoubtedly benefit from his previous experience in Russia this weekend. The Englishman led the IRC 2WD category with a Honda Civic Type R R3 on the Rally Russia last year, before being forced out with a mechanical problem.

“I really enjoyed the Rally Russia last year and I’m looking forward to tackling it again,” he said. “There are some quite quick stages, which I always enjoy, and some very tricky places as well. However, driving the event with the Proton will be quite a different type of challenge as our job is also to accumulate as much information as possible.”

The Rally Russia gets underway on Thursday afternoon and concludes on Saturday afternoon.

Source/Photo: ircseries.com