GUY Wilks saw his Junior World Rally Championship hopes go up in smoke at the weekend as a gearbox problem forced him to pull out of the Wales Rally GB.

The Darlington driver, who began the final event of the season in second place in the overall rankings, had looked like taking the junior crown following an action-packed first day in the Welsh forests.

With his leading championship rival, Urmo Aava, having been forced to retire following an accident on the second stage, Wilks' second place would have been enough to have earned him the world title had he managed to hold on to it until the finish.

But despite surviving a number of punctures on day one, Wilks' luck deserted him in the latter stages of the morning session of day two.

The North-Easterner's Swift S1600 had been showing signs of a problem as he tackled the final morning stage, and an examination at the midday service interval revealed a major problem with the gearbox.

"What can I say? It's obviously been a massive disappointment," said Wilks, who eventually ended the season in fourth place.

"To win the Junior World Rally Championship you need everything to come together and, unfortunately, that simply didn't happen."

Wilks' retirement opened the door for Renault driver Patrick Sandell to take the junior title in his first full season on the world rally tour.

The senior world title went to Sebastien Loeb, although Swede Marcus Gronholm was able to sign off his first season with the BP Ford team with a victory in Wales.