HEIGHINGTON rally driver Guy Wilks saw his hopes of the Junior World Rally Championship end in a Spanish ditch on the final day of the Rallye Catalunya last weekend.

The 23-year-old County Durham driver went into the final round with a three-point advantage over Suzuki teammate Per Gunnar Andersson, knowing a steady drive into the points should be enough to give him the crown.

Throughout the first two days, Wilks and Welsh co-driver Phil Pugh shadowed the Swede around the fast tarmac roads of the Costa Del Sol.

All looked to be going to plan for Wilks until he tossed his Ignis off the road on the very first stage of the final day and was unable to rejoin, thus handing the title to Andersson.

Nevertheless, Wilks was magnanimous in defeat. "It's more disappointing than I can say," he said. "We had everything under control and our plan was to go sensibly to make sure we stayed in a position to win the championship - which is exactly what we had been doing for the whole rally.

"Our information was that the weather would dry out on the final morning, which is why we chose the slick tyre, but it was the wrong choice.

"We got a few kilometres into the stage and then slid off on a corner and could not continue. In rallying you have highs and you have lows, but I'd like to congratulate Per Gunnar on becoming champion."

The Dealer Team Suzuki pair will contest the final round of the British Rally Championship this weekend when they travel to Aldershot for the Tempest Rally.

Having already clinched the Super 1600 title despite not competing on the last round in Yorkshire, Wilks aims to make up for the disappointment of last weekend by winning his class on the event.

* Leeming's Kevin Procter missed out on a hat-trick of victories on the Rallitrak Premier Rally when he finished second to former BTRDA champion Brian Bell on the Sherwood Forest-based event last Sunday.

Driving the Motoscope Ford Puma 4x4, Procter and co-driver Mick Gilby from Northallerton traded blows all day long with the Ford Focus WRC driver from Skegness, with no more than a couple of seconds separating them through the opening eight stages.

Bell led early on before Procter took over at mid-distance, but just two seconds separated the pair going into the final test. Despite Procter's best efforts, Bell managed to arrive at the finish ten seconds to the good.

Continuing their recent good form were Over Silton driver Matt Yeadon and co-driver Richard Shores from Boltby, who finished seventh overall in their Nu Era Mitsubishi Lancer after setting a string of top ten times throughout the day.

* Bishop Auckland road racer Barry Burrell rounded off the 2004 season in style by posting an eighth-place finish in the final round of the BMW Motorrad Boxer Cup held at Valencia in Spain last weekend.

The 17-year-old rode a steady race as he racked up the points once more to clinch 11th place in the final standings of the Moto GP-supporting international series.

Burrell equalled his best finish, which came in the opening round of the championship at Daytona in Florida, and was one of only three riders to score points in all rounds of the series.

Burrell also finished third in the BMW YoungStar championship, which was incorporated into the series for riders under 21 years of age.

* Croft circuit near Darlington hosts the 2004 MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix this weekend, with many of the sport's top drivers and most powerful cars set to battle it out for the prestigious title.

Britain's Will Gollop (Ford Focus) is sure to be one of the favourites to add to his three Grand Prix titles, as will former British GP winner Pat Doran, who will drive the ex-Carlos Sainz Ford Escort as opposed to his Ford RS200 which took him to the British Championship two years ago.

But the pair of Kent drivers will have their work cut out as the entry includes eight-times British and Irish champion Dermot Carnegie (Ford Focus), who is one of a number of Irishmen looking to retain the crown for the Republic after John Haffey's success in 2002.

While Haffey himself is absent, the Irish challenge is maintained by the Scotch Corner-based Tony Bardy Motorsport team in the hands of Christopher Evans, who will race the ex-Steiner Joranli Opel Astra, as well as John McCluskey in the ex-Helmut Holfeld championship-winning Peugeot 306.

Making his debut at Croft will be three-times French champion Laurent Terroitin, who brings his formidable Citroen Xsara to North Yorkshire in a bid to lift the title, while Hungarian Gyorgy Fodor will drive the ex-BTCC Toyota Carina E in the two-day event.

Tony Bell from nearby Ferryhill will carry local as well as British hopes for success in his venerable Toyota Corolla WRC, which has undergone a major repair since a huge crash at Lydden a couple of years ago.

The supporting Internations Cup will also see drivers from six countries battle it out for two-wheel drive honours, with England among the favourites to win the title back from Norway, who claimed victory in the mud and rain of two years ago.

Local driver Dave Bellerby (Vauxhall Nova) from Northallerton will team up with Hartlepool's Des Wheatley (Rover Metro) and Cumbrian Mike Dresser (Lotus Exige), with the team being completed by Gordon Rogers (Vauxhall Corsa) and Mike Turpin (Vauxhall Nova).

The meeting, organised by Darlington and District Motor Club, gets under way tomorrow morning with free practice from 11am followed by timed qualifying from 1.15 and the first of two rounds of heats starting at 3pm.

Racing starts on Sunday at noon, following on from the warm-ups from 9.30 and the pit lane walkabout from 10.30 to 11.30. The first of the finals is scheduled to start at 3.30.

Admission is £12 per adult each day, with accompanied children under 15 admitted free. For more information contact Terry Wright on 01325 359895.