Elsewhere, Rory Galligan’s works Peugeot had been showing none of the symptoms that had put paid to Dale’s chances as he tried to catch the flying Pumas, but this all changed when a broken cam belt put him out of contention on the second to last stage. Simon Hughes was finding that the engine in his glorious-sounding Renault Clio wasn’t exactly suited to gravel stages, and Petch and Reynolds continued to battle it out for second place. Second was as high as they could go, because at the front Jonny Milner was having it relatively easy, even finding time (with the permission of the organisers) to take part in a photo-call with the Yorkshire police and the Pirelli girls. Tough job, Jonny!
So a well-organised (there were more than a few comments on this from the competitors) and highly enjoyable event finally came to an end. The champagne was in even fuller flow than usual on the podium, and Jonny treated the crowd to some grass-cutting doughnuts as he left the finish ramp (the second such display, as he had done the same half way down the straight of the last Pickering spectator stage).
There’s no doubt that Jonny is a popular British Rally Champion. This is in no way disrespectful to Justin Dale, who is one of the nicest and most unassuming drivers around and who has driven faultlessly (apart from his aquatics on the Scottish!) and breathtakingly quickly all year. It’s just that Jonny has tried so hard for this title (his 13th year of trying in fact) that he really deserves his success.
During an emotional speech at the awards ceremony, he went out of his way to thank everyone, from Team Dynamics boss Duncan McMath to ‘The Hedgehog’, for their role in this success, and dedicated his Championship title to his brother Tim, tragically killed some years ago in a road accident. The sport needs people like Jonny Milner.
