Yorkshire ace Jonny Milner was on great form on this weekend’s Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally in southern Scotland. Milner was setting fastest times in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge by the end of a long and bitterly frustrating day for the two times former British Rally Champion in Jedburgh.
Driving his Mitsubishi Lancer E9, the Team Merlin International backed driver from Huggate lost nearly 8 minutes on the opening stage of the MSA National Gravel Championship event. The Merlin International, Team Dynamics Alloy Wheels, Snap On Diagnostics and Pirelli Tyres backed machine ground to a halt on the first special stage with an electrical problem. Milner and co-driver Ian Windress frantically worked to fix the melted exhaust gas sensor. After what seemed like an eternity the Mitsubishi finally burst into life and the pair were able to continue.
With all hope of a podium finish dashed, Milner had to dig deep to find the enthusiasm to carry on. Jonny has never been a quitter and how it showed. He bounced back with fastest time in the Evo Challenge battle on the third stage of the rally. His times were consistently quick throughout the remainder of the day in the John Bean Garage Equipment, Goldline Bearings, NGK Spark Plugs, Sparco, and Ferodo Competition Brake Pads backed machine. On stage times at least Milner was in the thick of a three way battle between Phil Morrow, Julian Reynolds and Seb Ling.
With so much time lost and only 50 miles in which to recover, Milner battled on valiantly. The deflated duo would eventually finish 29th overall and 21st in class. It was scant reward for a typically gritty and determined recovery drive.
Jonny was disappointed with the result but was positive about the future:
“I just couldn’t believe it” said Milner. “The car was running fine and then all of a sudden it just died. A wire and sensor had come loose and melted, so we had to change it. Eventually the car fired up and we were able to continue. In a championship where tenths of a second are being traded to lose eight minutes is a lifetime. We could have packed up and gone home there and then. You never know when a point or two will come in handy though, so we carried on and the stage times were very good for the rest of the day and the car was excellent. It turned into a very good test for the forthcoming Pirelli International Rally, so the day was not a complete washout. Overall, it was disappointing to lose so much time but we made some improvements to the set up of the car and I was happy with our pace by the end. The Evo Challenge will have a few more twists and turns before the year is out so I’m confident that we’ll be back in the mix for the next round in the Isle of Man – my favourite place!”
Jonny and the MSR Motorsport team head back to the Kielder Forest in April for the Pirelli International Rally, opening round of the Tesco 99 British Rally Championship. Milner follows that event with the RBS International Manx Rally on May 11/12 where he will look to make the most of his rally winning knowledge of tarmac roads native to the island.
