BRITISH driver Guy Wilks has confirmed he will enter all 12 rounds of this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship driving a Volkswagen RX Polo, writes Larry Carter.

Wilks, from Durham, is a double British Rally Champion and former WRC driver, and plans to compete in the ex-Johan Kristoffersson Supercar which helped the Swede finish runner-up in last year’s drivers’ standings.

Wilks will be the only permanent British driver in the series, having competed in five World RX events over the past couple of seasons. In 2015, he reached the final of the British round at Lydden Hill, but was denied a podium due to a technical problem. 

"To get an opportunity to do a full World Championship is something I've always wished for," said Wilks, who will enter as an independent entry and be backed by energy drink LOCO as well as his own Karting North East concern, which he operates near Sunderland.

"To compete in a car that finished second in the championship last year adds pressure but is the ingredient that can make it realistic for me mix it at the top, even though the bar in World RX is getting raised year on year. I'm going to give it absolutely everything and 2017 is going to be an awesome journey!"

With names such as rally legends Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb in the entry list as well as cult American hero Ken Block, Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud and sons of famous fathers, Timmy Hansen, Kevin Hansen and Niclas Gronholm, it’s going to be no easy task for Wilks, who is busy finalising his plans for the season which starts in Barcelona this weekend.