GUY WILKS says stepping into the shoes of rival Kris Meeke holds no fear for him.

The Darlington rally driver has taken over the Peugeot seat vacated by Meeke after an exciting season in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with Skoda.

Wilks finished sixth overall in last year’s standings, despite missing a significant chunk of the season after sustaining a serious back injury.

Meanwhile, Meeke, who won the IRC title in 2009, but finished third last year behind Jan Kopecky and winner Juho Hanninen, has now moved to the World Rally Championship stage with MINI.

In a recent interview he appeared to dismiss Wilks’ title credentials by neglecting to mention him among this year’s front-runners.

“Jan Kopecki has been close for the last two seasons but he’s made a few mistakes,”

said Meeke when asked.

“Andreas Mikkelsen is showing more and more maturity and could do really well. Thierry Neuville is getting more and more experience, you’ve got Freddy Loix and there’s also Bryan Bouffier to watch if he gets a full programme.”

Wilks, however, knows full well that talk is cheap and it’s results that matter – starting with Monaco on January 18.

“I do what I do with the team that I’m with at the time and he will do the same,”

Wilks said. “There is no point in cross-examining yourself until the time comes when you might end up as teammates.

“When you are competing against each other you are competing against everybody, not just one driver.”

While Wilks admits this is a big year for him, he is also relaxed ahead of his debut.

“I don’t look at anything as a make-or-break,” he said. “I am a great believer in what will happen will happen. Give your best and if you are able to give more than the competition, then you deserve it.

“I want to win the Championship and that has got to be the goal. You have to set yourself a target and be clever about how you go about achieving it. I would love to go out at 110 per cent at the start of every rally. But sometimes you have to be a little bit more cunning and clever. To win rallies is one thing, to win championships is completely different.”

He certainly believes that in the Peugeot 207 S2000 he has the machinery to make it happen.

“I want to do this for myself, firstly,” he said. “But the reason I took the offer from Peugeot is because I believe I can do it with them. They have the same desire as me, are professional and it’s a case of let’s get on and do it.

“They have promised to give me the best tools for the job that they possibly can and so then it’s down to (co-driver) Phil (Pugh) to get on and do the rest.”