GUY Wilks achieved his goal by finishing in a points-scoring sixth place on the Rallye Monte Carlo.

Having celebrated his 29th birthday during the event, the Darlington-driver scored three points to make an encouraging start to his 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge in the Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000.

Co-driven by Phil Pugh, Wilks drove intelligently and faultlessly throughout the four-day, 251-stage mile event. Consistency proved the key to success, as he set 13 top ten fastest stage times out of 15 and didn’t put a scratch on his Fabia S2000 – despite extremely challenging snow and ice covered mountain stages.

A stunning second fastest time on the opening stage of Leg 3 (SS11) saw Wilks move up two places to fifth.

With just four stages north of Monaco remaining, it was going to be an exciting finale as just 49.9 seconds separated Wilks and the 9th placed driver.

Tyre choice would be critical, and while there was no snow on the twisty Alpes-Maritimes roads, freezing conditions meant sections of sheet ice, especially on the ascent to the Col de Turini, situated 1607 metres above Monaco.

Wilks took winter tyres for the first loop of two stages, and while this was a good choice for the ice, he lost more time that he’d gained on the dry sections.

Returning to the harbour in Monte Carlo, Wilks was back in seventh, albeit just 1.9 seconds behind Jan Kopecký.

For the final loop, Wilks took a combination of cut slick and intermediate tyres and maintained a fast and safe pace to complete a copybook performance and finish sixth, moving up one place after Sébastien Ogier retired.

“It’s been a fantastic rally – very difficult, but fantastic," said Wilks afterwards. "Škoda UK Motorsport is such a new team, and this is the first time I’ve rallied a Fabia S2000 on tarmac.

"The car hasn’t missed a beat and if you consider that Rallye Monte Carlo is one of the most difficult events in the world, a points-scoring finish is a fantastic result.

"We’ve stuck to our plan of taking no risks and getting mileage in the car, and it has paid dividends.

“This is a very encouraging start to the IRC, and we’re looking forward to going to Brazil and Argentina for the next two gravel events.”

Škoda UK Motorsport’s next event will be Round 2 of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Rally International de Curitiba, in Brazil (March 4-6).