HEIGHINGTON rally driver Guy Wilks upheld British honour to win the Junior World Rally Championship category of the Wales Rally GB last weekend.

The result was good enough to see the Suzuki driver move up to top spot in the Junior World Rally Championship standings for the first time.

Co-driven by Welshman Phil Pugh, the County Durham driver suffered a number of problems on the three-day event based in Cardiff, including a spin and a puncture which looked to have cost him any chance of victory as he entered the final day half a minute behind leader Mirco Baldacci.

However, the San Marino driver crashed out of the lead on SS16, leaving Wilks with a comfortable lead from second-placed Kris Meeke in his Opel Corsa.

Wilks said: "Great Britain is always an unpredictable and incredibly challenging event - all the more so this year.

"It's been a very tough three days and I've had quite a lot of pressure on my shoulders. It wasn't such a good start to the rally as we had a few little problems such as a puncture.

"But things got steadily better and I think we were obviously putting Mirco under a bit of pressure. After he went out, we just concentrated on getting safely to the finish."

It was the 23-year-old's second JWRC victory of the season and he now leads the championship by just two points going into next weekend's penultimate round in Sardinia.

It wasn't such good news for two other local crews who were contesting the event, with both encountering problems. Scorton's Steve Petch and Northallerton co-driver John Richardson didn't even make the first stage when the turbo blew on their Hyundai Accent WRC on the opening night, while the Darlington CS Automotive Team of Matt Jessup and Bill Robertson had to contest the event under protest when their Peugeot 206 Super Cup car was deemed ineligible at the start.

Having only been informed of the situation by the FIA the day before the event, the pair ran at the back of the field, collecting numerous punctures on the opening leg before charging back on the final two days with some respectable times.

The matter is now in the hands of the various officials and stewards.

l Paul Swift of Darlington has been celebrating this week after winning the MSA and BTRDA British Autotest Championships.

After a year away from the sport while he contested the Peugeot 206 Super Cup in rallying, with support from sponsors Smartifa and Carpet-time, Swift returned to the Autotest scene in 2004 and rewarded them with two championship wins.

The season started perfectly with outright wins from the first three events, but his lead was short-lived as he missed the next four events due to demonstration commitments at the British Motor Show.

This left him under pressure to score maximum points in the remainder of the season, with very little room for error.

The following four events were closely fought between the three championship front-runners, but Swift was able to take victory on three of the five remaining events to put the championship beyond the reach of his MSA title rivals.

At last weekend's event in Wolverhampton, Swift clinched his sixth outright win of the season to add the BTRDA championship to his earlier title.

He has now been invited to represent the English national team in an international Autotest in Warwickshire on October 16.

Swift and his father, Russ, feature in a documentary filmed for BBC1's Inside Out programme which will be screened at 7.30 on October 4.

* Seventeen-year-old road racer Paul Veazey couldn't quite manage to round off the British Supersport season in the points and had to settle for 23rd place at the flag after 18 gruelling laps in the final race of the season at Donington Park last weekend.

From a row seven start, the Middlesbrough teenager once again got shuffled out on the first corner, meaning he had to play catch-up for the third race in a row.

"I couldn't believe my luck as I'd got another good start and still I ended up on the rumble strip at Redgate Corner. I was riding as hard as I could and could see the group in front of me, but I just couldn't catch them.

"It was a bit of a lonely race, but I enjoyed it and hopefully what I've learned from this year can be put to good use next season," said the JR Motosport Yamaha rider, who has finished in all 13 races this season.

Meanwhile, Darlington's Richie Harrison couldn't improve on his 17th place finish in the penultimate round of the National Superstock Cup on Saturday when he brought his Yamaha R1 home 19th in Sunday's final race.

Guisborough rider Dennis Hobbs ended the season in third place in the British Superbike Cup despite missing the last three rounds due to injury.

The 22-year-old left hospital earlier in the week following surgery to repair his broken neck, but hopes to be back in action sooner than expected as doctors have told him he stands a good chance of being fit for the new season, which starts in March.

l Yarm racing driver Bill Addison was in action at Snetterton recently in the Caterham Roadsport B Championship.

After qualifying in a disappointing 14th place at the Norfolk track, Addison pulled through to record a seventh and tenth place finish in his two races over the weekend, which consolidated his sixth place in the championship table.

His next outing will be in two weeks' time when more than 300 competitors will gather at Brands Hatch for the annual Caterham Festival.

l The Darlington and District Motor Club-organised Northern Sports and Saloon Car Championship moves closer to its conclusion with the penultimate round taking place at Croft this weekend.

Hartlepool's Darren Flounders in his Ford Fiesta XR2 and Tynesider Ian Blacklin (Westfield) currently tie for the overall honours and both will need to continue their class-winning ways to stay in the race for the title and the prestigious Grinton Picnic Trophy.

Also in action will be drivers in the Scottish XR2 Championship, while The Cockshoot Cup is for MG sports cars.

Both categories provide competitive grids and close, exciting racing.

The meeting will also host a round of the Silverstone Racing School Formula Ford Championship, which takes young drivers and grooms them to become the stars of the future. Always competitive, the series gives the public a chance to pick out the future F3 and GP drivers.

Adding to the variety on offer, the Centurian Challenge is a long distance, two-driver race mainly featuring Caterham and Radical cars. It runs for 90 minutes, with pit stops incorporated to liven up the action.

The Scottish Saloon and Sports Car Championship, unlike its DDMC counterpart, allows Sports racing cars.

The feature this year has been the battles between the myriad of Radicals at the front, while the heavier saloons and sports cars battle it out further back.

To round off the weekend, the DDMC will again host a charity race for any saloon or sports car, with the entry fees going to the Katy Trust.

Tomorrow's action starts with qualifying from 9.30 and the first of eight races starts at 12.15. Sunday sees racing start at 12.05 with another eight-race programme.

Adult admission is £6 tomorrow and £12 on Sunday, with accompanied children under 15 admitted free.