FORMER double British Rally champion and 2009 Toyota Sprint Series champion Jonny Milner will have his work cut out when he defends two titles on consecutive days next month.

Huggate-based Milner and co-driver Ian Windress will start the Severn Valley round of the MSA National Gravel Rally championship in pole position on June 5 after last month’s decisive win at Kielder gave them the championship lead.

Straight after the rally, Milner will make the 226-mile journey from Powys to Fakenham, Norfolk, in readiness for the third race in the Toyota Sprint Series Championship series at RAF Sculthorpe.

Milner is hoping he will not be cursed by the gearbox issues that cost him the lead by 0.38 of a second in the second round at Barkston Heath on April 4.

The 41-year-old said: “It will be a challenging weekend, but both the BFGoodrich and 7 Lakes-supported Toyota Corolla WRC and the Merlin International and Anglo American Oil Company Ltd-sponsored Toyota Celica GT4 are performing well. “It’s 20 years since I last did a back to back – it was an eventful weekend where I rolled end to end on the rally, drove up to York hospital for x rays then set off to Rallycross at Knockhill in Scotland and won.”