Wilks and Pugh to make up for Azores woe

Guy Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh have vowed to hit back from the disappointment of retirement on Sata Rallye Acores last week when the Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes on Barum Czech Rally Zlin at the end of August.

The Peugeot UK aces were in sixth overall when they hit trouble on the first run through the event’s signature stage, Sete Cidades, on day two of the rally. In heavy rain and fog, Wilks was unable to spot a patch of standing water on a corner and slid into a bank, breaking his car’s right-side suspension arm in the process.

“In rallying you have massive highs and big, big lows but you have to keep your chin up, keep going and not let them effect you for too long,” said Wilks. “It’s happened, I’ve made a mistake, I have to learn from it and move on to the next rally. That’s what we’ll do.”

Pugh added: “We had high hopes coming to the Azores and they got deflated so quickly. But we’ll pick ourselves up, focus on the next rally and get the best result possible.”