Wilks gets new Fabia for Sardinia attack

Guy Wilks will get a new Škoda Fabia for round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Sardinia this week.

Wilks has tackled the opening four rounds of the season in the same Škoda UK Motorsport-entered car. Although he could have continued in the machine for the Italian event, his team has used the recent gap in the schedule ready a replacement Fabia, the same car works Škoda driver Jan Kopecký campaigned on the opening two rounds of the Italian championship.

“We’ve had a bit of bad luck on this event with mechanical problems [in the past] because the event can be quite tough on the car,” said Wilks.

Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh prepared for the event with a short test in Sardinia on Monday. While wet and windy conditions made for a difficult session, the 29-year-old Wilks was satisfied with the running he was able to conduct and the progress made on fine-tuning his car’s damper settings.

The event, which includes four stages televised live on Eurosport, begins with a ceremonial start in the island’s capital, Cagliari, on Friday evening before the stage action gets underway on Saturday. The finish is on Sunday evening in Porto Cervo.