Double Pirelli British Rally Champion Jonny Milner arrived at the Ulster Rally looking to close the gap on arch rival David Higgins in the points stakes, but after an eventful first days action, Milner was to fall foul of an Irish ditch in his quest to become British Rally Champion for the third time.After a magnificent performance on the Manx International Rally where Jonny emerged as a clear winner, hopes were high that the Yorkshireman and his Welsh co-driver Nicky Beech would be able to maintain their hot run of form as the Championship reached it sixth round from eight last weekend.Once again, tyre choice would prove to be a crucial factor in Jonny's chances of success in the Team Dynamics and Pirelli backed Subaru Impreza WRC.  The Morgan Motorsport leased car looking resplendant as Milner and Beech entered the opening loop of stages. With a number of top Irish crews taking part, Jonny found himself in a comfortable 5th place overall by the end of the first stage - but more importantly, David Higgins was having major mechanical problems in his Hyundai.  Differential and power steering problems meant that the Manxman was losing around a minute a stage to the leaders, giving the Team Dynamics crew the advantage as they pushed on into the final loop of stages held in the dark.However, it was not all plain sailing for Milner.  BRC veteran Austin McHale had hit the ground running on the event and was flying in his Ford Focus WRC.  Just a couple of seconds seperated Jonny and Austin to the sixth stage, when Milner hit a small problem in his Subaru.  A glitch in the semi-automatic gearbox meant that Jonny was unable to select reverse quickly when he slightly overshot a junction near the end of the stage.  Altogether around 33 seconds were lost to McHale in the process, leaving Jonny in sixth overall, and 42 seconds back on Austin for the start of the long second day.With Pirelli intermediate tyres selected for the opening loop of stages, Milner was confident that he could reel in his Irish rival over the course of the day.  Unofficial timing a the mid point of the first stage of the day showed that Milner was flying.  The Huggate driver was over 20 seconds up on McHale at the midpoint of the stage, but disaster was literally around the corner for Milner - on the very last corner of the stage.The slippery conditions had already caught out many on the rally, and Milner slid off the road on a tight left hand bend.  Despite frantic attempts to extricate the car, the Subaru was going nowhere fast.  Some 18 minutes were lost getting the car out of the field, but eventually, enough spectators were found to get the car back on the road.  Milner completed the next two stages, setting top three times in the process.  However, the time lost on that opening stage of the day meant that Jonny and Nicky were over their allowed time limit for the rally at service, and there was no option but to retire.Bitterly disappointed, Milner remained defiant after his unfortunate ending to the rally:"After the Manx, we came here looking for another good score and the first day had shown that we had the speed to take maximum BRC points on this event again.  With David hitting big problems in his car, its just such a shame that we didn't get to the end of the rally.  It was incredibly slippery at the end of that stage, and the car slipped off the road, into a field, and into a drainage ditch.  Ok, we've missed out again on this event, but you have to be positive and look forward.  The next event is the the Trackrod Rally, my home event and one I have won before.  I'm very confident that I can do well on the rally again, and it only takes a problem for David or Austin on either of the last two rallies and we are more than in with a shout for the title.  I have never been a quitter in rallying and I'm not about to start now.  Its going to be very tough to win the championship from here, but we'll just have to go for it and give it 101% effort to make it happen."The Trackrod Rally takes place in the Yorkshire forests on October 3/4.  Milner dominated the rally in 2002 to take his first British Rally Championship title in the process.  Last year Jonny was able to cruise to second on the event as he also ensured that he took title number two.  Both Jonny and Nicky will be hoping for third time lucky as Jonny makes the short trip to the event from his Huggate home.Milner, Beech and the Team Dynamics Subaru outfit are supported by Team Dynamics, Pirelli, Goldline Bearings Ltd, Sun Diagnostics UK, Ferodo, NGK Spark Plugs, SPARCO, Superflow Exhausts, Elanders Hindson, Green Filters, 76 R Fuels, Thermal Logic and Competition Car Insurance.