COUNTY Durham rally driver Guy Wilks had a lucky escape after his dreams of a record-breaking hat-trick of wins in the Pirelli International Rally literally went up in smoke.

Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh escaped unhurt when their Proton was destroyed by fire on Saturdays stages of the Carlisle-based event.

Double British champion Wilks, from Darlington, but who now lives in Chester-le-Street, was managing a comfortable 26-second lead on his Super 2000 debut when things went horribly wrong on stage eight.

Six other crews stopped to try and help put out the blaze but the car was burned out.

Wilks, backed by The Sun newspaper, Varta Consumer Batteries, Remington, Mobil 1, Travelodge and Evolution Power Tools, had led from the start in the largely unproven Proton Satria Neo, run by Mellors Elliott Motorsport.

They were fastest on Friday's two night stages to hold an 18.7-second lead over Mark Higgins going the final leg.

The pair were quickest again on stages three and four and had increased their lead to 25 seconds by the midday service.

Said Wilks: "We are absolutely distraught. The Proton is mega to drive and has so much potential.

"Everything was going to plan. We were managing things from the front, determined to reward Proton and MEM with victory - then disaster.

"I must thank everyone who tried to help put out the fire. That's the true spirit of rallying. Yes, we are rivals on the stages, but we all share the same passion and no one likes to see a rally car destroyed."

Irishman Keith Cronin (Mitsubishi Evo 9) overhauled Higgins' Subaru on the final stage to win the event by just two seconds.