Having led from start to finish and recording the fastest time on all of the event’s ten stages, Guy Wilks and co-driver David Moynihan crossed the line of this weekend’s Rally Yorkshire, round five of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, to record a resounding victory for the Mitsubishi Motors UK Rally Team by a margin of one-and-a-half minutes.

However, at the finish second-placed Mark Higgins, driving for the TEG Sport Subaru team, protested the compliance of the steering column in Wilks’ car. Following a scrutineer’s report and a meeting of the event’s Stewards, Wilks was excluded.

The Mitsubishi team has since lodged an appeal with the MSA. The decision regarding the compliance of the component in question will be known in the next few weeks.

“We were very surprised when the protest was made as we build our cars in accordance to the regulations.” said team principal and Ralliart General Manager Paul Brigden. “We have lodged an appeal and it is now in the hands of the MSA.  Therefore we can say or do nothing about the situation until we know the outcome. However, we are confident that our cars comply with the rules.”

Team-mates Gwyndaf Evans and Paul Nagle finished a determined fifth, after fighting back following a broken rear driveshaft and resulting turbo problem slowed them in the early stages.