Rally ace Jonny Milner goes to the Extreme for 2012 challenge (From York Press)

Rally ace Jonny Milner goes to the Extreme for 2012 challenge

9:42am Saturday 5th November 2011 in Motorsport

FORMER British rally champion Jonny Milner and his Merlin International team are hoping to take delivery of a brand new car for 2012 after excelling in the 2011 Toyota Sprint Series.

The team boasted four drivers in the top ten, led by Huggate-based Milner, who narrowly missed out on the overall title in his ‘Extreme’ Toyota Celica GT4.

Despite winning the same number of rounds as champion Adrian Smith and being 2.1 seconds faster than his adversary over the six rounds, Milner was edged out as in the event of a tie the title goes to the winner of the first round.

The other top ten Merlin finishers were fellow Huggate driver Andrew Falkingham, in third, Ash Simpson, from Fangfoss, in fifth, and 21-year-old Danni Bark ninth and fastest woman overall in the final round.

Milner, who will contest the Sprint Series Challenge next year, said: “It was really disappointing not to win the championship but we had some real problems with the cooling system and just couldn’t get a clean run.

“It has made us all the more determined for next year and we’re hopeful that my performance throughout the series and at Goodwood will result in a new car sponsorship for the 2012 Championship.

“If you thought that this year’s car was Extreme, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Merlin International fielded the biggest team in the 2011 Toyota Sprint Series, with eight drivers competing in three classes.