JWRC: Puncture no problem as Wilks powers on.

Britain's Guy Wilks increased his lead in the Junior World Rally Championship category on the Rally Argentina on Saturday, despite having to stop and change a tyre after a puncture in SS13.

The Englishman though still concluded the day with a dominant lead - more than nine minutes up on Patrik Sandell, who is second in his Renault Clio.

"Today has been even more difficult than yesterday," reflected the Suzuki Swift driver. "In the morning the fog was so thick that it was difficult to see beyond the bonnet. Then we had to stop and change a puncture on SS13, which took about a minute and a half.

"When you are trying to protect an advantage, it's easy to almost over-concentrate: you are constantly looking out for problems rather than driving normally. Nonetheless the car has been fantastic here: there's plenty of power from the engine, which is what you need when the stages are run at high altitudes."

Wilks' team-mate, Per-Gunnar Andersson meanwhile rejoined leg two under the SupeRally regulations after hitting a rock on Friday. Despite picking up a five-minute penalty per stage missed, the Swede is now up to third, as only four JWRC crews have opted to contest this event.

"Today was really good, which makes me regret the impact we had with a rock yesterday even more," said P-G, who was fastest through five of the days eight tests. "Nonetheless I hope we can come away from here with some useful points, which would be a good consolation prize."

Jaan Molder is the only other JWRC runner contesting the event, although he was forced out of the leg on SS13 when he hit a rock and broke the suspension on his Fiesta. Team Atolye Kazaz, who run the car for the Estonian, have since confirmed that he will rejoin the fold again on Sunday and once again utilise the SupeRally format.

Suzuki president, Nobuhiro Tajima summed up: "It's been another great day for Guy, who has driven with commendable maturity even after coming under a little bit of pressure following his puncture. Both him and P-G have really demonstrated the pace and reliability of the Swift, on our first visit to Argentina. What we have achieved so far is a great team effort, but two of the most difficult and famous stages of the rally are still to come tomorrow."