GUY Wilks has leapt to second place in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge after finishing runner-up on the Rally International de Curitiba.

On his first event in Brazil, Darlington's Wilks drove brilliantly in his Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 to hold second position throughout the challenging two-day event, finishing behind rival Kris Meeke (Peugeot).

Having only seen the stages during a mandatory 60kph recce, Wilks first attempt at the fast and flowing stages saw average speeds of more than 130kph - and Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh were able to better their times when stages were repeated.

It was a great event for Skoda, with all three Fabia S2000 finishing in the top four. Juho Hanninen finished third, while Jan Kopecky was fourth.

The result sees Skoda increase its lead in the IRC Manufacturers' standings, while Hanninen leads the drivers - just three points ahead of Wilks.

A violent overnight thunderstorm made Leg two's stages very wet - so much so that a swollen river forced the cancellation of two stages.

A deep river crossing was Wilks only problem of the day. On his first attempt (SS10) he took it slowly in first gear, but water still got into the engine, leaving him running on three cylinders for a mile. When the stage was repeated in the afternoon (SS13) he took the watersplash much faster, only for the force of the water to tear off part of the rear bumper and jet water into the cockpit.

Wilks kept the leader in his sights during the second and final day, driving fast enough to be able to pounce on any misfortune or mistake ahead, whilst keeping the following drivers behind.

"I'm really pleased to finish second and score eight points for Skoda UK on our first visit to Brazil, said Wilks. The team has done a great job and the Fabia S2000 has performed faultlessly throughout the event.

"Congratulations to Kris Meeke, he's driven a good event. The only difference was that he's rallied here before, and we had to get acclimatised to attacking these stages at rally speed for the first time.

"I've really enjoyed Rally Brazil. The overnight rain made the conditions very tricky and the stages were the fastest I've driven since Rally Finland in 2007. It's been a tough event, but we've been very strong throughout and finished with a great result."

Skoda UK Motorsport will remain in South America for a week of training and team building before starting to prepare for the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Rally Argentina, which begins on March 19 in Villa Carlos Paz.