GUY Wilks is hoping to use his experience of the Rally Deutschland to maintain his lead in the Junior World Rally Championship.

Darlington's Wilks is one of the few drivers taking part who have previously driven the course, and wants to make sure that pays off when the flag drops on Thursday.

The German event is round six of the championship and the first one to be held on proper asphalt roads. However, German asphalt is like no other anywhere else in the world, and it will provide a massive challenge for Suzuki Swift driver Wilks.

The rally is made up of two old national events rolled into one and this is very evident in the disparate nature of the stages.

The opening day takes place over narrow and slippery vineyard roads, which consist mostly of straights and tight hairpin bends. Day two is the most fearsome of the entire rally as it is run on the Baumholder military ranges, using roads that were originally designed to test tanks. The surface is abrasive concrete, which becomes extremely slippery when wet. The edges of the roads are very sharp, and often cause punctures - a particular risk for Junior Championship entrants, who are not allowed to use anti-deflation mousse.

The final day of the rally contains more conventional European asphalt roads, with a wide variety of speeds and corners.

"Germany is always a very difficult rally, but I've got a very good feeling with the Swift and this should hopefully enable us to come away with a good result," said Wilks.

"The tricky conditions should play to the Swift's strengths, and it's got plenty of power to cope with the fast sections.

"There's a bit of pressure on me because I'm in the lead of the championship and of course I want to keep it that way. But the pace is so hot that there's very little time for tactics - you are usually flat out from the start!"

The Rally Deutschland gets underway in Trier on Thursday. Crews then go on to tackle 19 special stages totalling 355 kilometres before the finish back in Trier on Sunday.

l Guisborough's Dennis Hobbs posted two 13th place finishes on the Nvidia Yamaha at round nine of the British Superbike Championship at Silverstone at the weekend.