GUY Wilks has cemented his claim to being the most promising British driver since the late Richard Burns, with a sensational drive in the Wales Rally GB.

The Darlington ace, who drives for Mitsubishi, clinched back-to-back British titles at the weekend – and he wasn’t even trying.

Wilks said he was able to ease off after both his championship rivals, brothers Mark and David Higgins, crashed out.

Both the Higgins were on 78 points going into the race, with Wilks a further two points behind.

But Mark got no further than the third stage, before crashing. After another off on a later stage, his Subaru was too badly damaged to go on.

Just one stage later David crashed out in almost identical circumstances.

After his triumph Wilks said: “It’s a great feeling to win the championship a second time.

“I joined Mitsubishi last year with the aim of winning back-to-back titles and we have done that in style.

“It’s proved harder to defend the title than to win it for the first time as there’s the weight of expectation on your shoulders, which makes this result even sweeter.

“Everyone in the team pulled together to achieve the result this weekend and I have to admit that it’s fantastic to be a double British Champion.”

Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh’s victory wasn’t without its dramas, though.

On the first stage the car’s master switch flicked off – costing valuable time.

And on another stage the turbo intercooler pipe came off, then a loose bolt on a caliper gave them brake problems.

Finally, on Saturday’s last forest stage they managed to break a driveshaft and had to nurse the car back to Swansea for repairs.

Freezing conditions made it tough going for all the competitors.

Many of the forestry roads were covered with a layer of ice, the conditions forcing organisers to cancel stage one and its later re-run as stage four. They also shortened stages two, three, five and six, which meant the first day’s competitive distance was reduced from 124 to less than 50km.

Wilks admitted: “It was hellish difficult driving the stages on these tyres. It was a big challenge but one that was massively important.

“I could have challenged harder for overall placings and to try and beat the rest of the Production Class cars, but that wasn’t the plan this weekend. We came to this event with the intention of wrapping up the British Driver’s and Team’s titles, so if it meant taking it steady and letting the competitors that are not involved with the British Championship get away, then that’s what we had to do.

“However, 15th overall and third in class on a World Rally Championship event can’t be a bad result anyway!”

Wilks eventually finished third in the P-WRC category and 14th overall.

The result cemented his British title giving him 96 points to Mark Higgins on 88 and David Higgins on 80 points.

Former champion and Wilks’ team mate, Welsh bus driver Gwyndaf Evans, finished the season in fourth place.

Between them Wilks and Evans clinched a third teams championship for Mitsubishi.

■ The overall rally was won by Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb who also wrapped up his fifth world title in a row.