Rhys Millen
| Rhys Millen | |
|---|---|
|
Millen at NJMP, 2010. | |
| Nationality |
 New Zealander |
| Born |
September 1972 (age 43) New Zealand |
| Related to |
Rod Millen (father) Steve Millen (uncle) Ryan Millen (brother) |
| Global RallyCross Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Rhys Millen Racing |
| Car no. | 67 |
| Starts | 26 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2011 |
| Finished last season | 10th (2014) |
| Previous series | |
| Formula D | |
Rhys Millen (born 6 September 1972),[1] nephew of IMSA GTS driver Steve Millen, son of Rod and older brother of Ryan, is one of the America's top competitors in drifting. Prior to that he was a top rally driver in the US, and became the first works backed driver from a car manufacturer with GM in 2004 after narrowly losing to Ken Nomura in the US D1 Grand Prix exhibition event in 2003. In 2011 Millen raced a 500 bhp AWD Hyundai Veloster in the US Rallycross championship. In 2012 he will compete in the Global RallyCross Championship.
Career
Millen became just the second champion in the short history of the United States' top drifting series, Formula D, just a year after his good friend, Samuel Hubinette, became the maiden series champ. Millen has two wins in his Formula D career: the 2004 season finale at the Irwindale Speedway, and the 2005 season opener at the Wall Speedway in Wall Township, New Jersey. He became the highest placed non-Japanese driver in the US round of the D1GP event in 2005, making it to the last 8 after beating Masato Kawabata, only to lose to Yasuyuki Kazama through a "One More Time" rerun. Millen's father, Rod, also competes in drifting on occasion. In fact, Rod made his Formula D debut at the 2005 season finale at Irwindale, the same event where his son was crowned the champion.
Millen has driven a Pontiac GTO drift car for three seasons (Winning in 2004 and 2005, but losing out to Hubinette in 2006) and a Pontiac Solstice for the 2007 D1 Season. For the 2009 season, he will drive a Hyundai Genesis Coupe.[2] Red Bull has been a major sponsor of Rhys' drifting efforts, as well as the paint schemes of many of his cars.
Besides racing, Millen is also a stunt driver for films such as The Dukes of Hazzard, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He also did the driving for the first Hyundai Genesis Coupe commercial.
On 31 December 2008, he became the first person to back-flip an off-road truck in the air. He landed off-balance, forcing his vehicle to flip on its side a few times after landing, but then walked away unharmed.
In 2009, Hyundai teamed up with Millen to race the Hyundai Genesis Coupe at the Formula Drift Professional Drifting Championship, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and select Redline Time Attack Series events in 2009.[3][4] On July of that year, Millen set a new rear wheel drive record to take Pikes Peak's time attack title.[5][6]
In 2010, Millen, with navigator Antony Jay Hartley, partnered with Hyundai into the sport of rally.
Complete career results
(key)
D1 Grand Prix
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Pontiac | Pontiac GTO | IRW TSU |
SGO |
EBS |
APS |
ODB |
EBS |
TKB |
0 | ||
| 2005 | Pontiac | Pontiac GTO | IRW TAN |
ODB |
SGO |
APS |
EBS |
FUJ |
TKB |
12 | 25 | |
| 2006 | Red Bull | Pontiac Solstice GXP | IRW |
SGO |
FUJ |
APS |
EBS |
SUZ |
FUJ |
12 | 25 | |
| 2009 | Red Bull | Hyundai Genesis Coupe | IRW DNQ |
0 |
Formula D
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Pontiac | Pontiac GTO | Rd. 1 |
Rd. 2 |
Rd. 3 |
Rd. 4 |
|||||
| 2005 | Pontiac | Pontiac GTO | Rd. 1 |
Rd. 2 |
Rd. 3 |
Rd. 4 |
Rd. 5 |
Rd. 6 |
1 | ||
| 2006 | Red Bull Pontiac | Pontiac GTO | Rd. 1 |
Rd. 2 |
Rd. 3 |
Rd. 4 |
Rd. 5 |
Rd. 6 |
Rd. 7 |
2 | 596.00 |
| Pontiac Solstice GXP | |||||||||||
| 2007 | Red Bull Pontiac | Pontiac Solstice GXP | Rd. 1 |
Rd. 2 |
Rd. 3 |
Rd. 4 |
Rd. 5 |
Rd. 6 |
Rd. 7 |
4 | 478.00 |
Global Rallycross Championship
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | GRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rhys Millen | Hyundai Veloster | IRW1 5 |
IRW2 4 |
OLD1 7 |
OLD2 5 |
PIK1 9 |
PIK2 4 |
LA1 14 |
LA2 6 |
3rd | 82 | ||||
| 2012 | Hyundai Rallycross Rhys Millen Racing | Hyundai Veloster | CHA 6 |
TEX 4 |
LA 4 |
NH |
LVS 6 |
LVC 3 |
4th | 63 | ||||||
| 2013 | Rhys Millen Racing | Hyundai Veloster | BRA | MUN1 | MUN2 | LOU | BRI | LAN 4 |
ATL | CHA | LVS 10 |
18th | 20 | |||
| 2014 | Rhys Millen Racing | Hyundai Veloster | BAR 7 |
AUS 13 |
DC 9 |
NY 7 |
CHA 11 |
DAY 1 |
LA1 4 |
LA2 1 |
SEA 5 |
LV 13 |
10th | 201 | ||
| 2015 | Rhys Millen Racing | Hyundai Veloster | FTA |
DAY1 |
DAY2 |
MCAS |
DET1 |
DET2 |
DC |
LA1 |
LA2 |
BAR1 DNS |
BAR2 11 |
LV |
NC | 0 |
References
- ↑ "Rhys Millen". Global RallyCross Championship. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- ↑ Serious Wheels - 2009 RMR Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe
- ↑ Rhys Millen Hyundai Genesis Coupe Drift Car Gets Lambda Engine 05-06-2009, Edmunds.com
- ↑ Rhys Millen's drift car finally ready to run with Hyundai Power 5 May 2009, Autoblog.com
- ↑ Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Rhys Millen Set World Record to Take Pikes Peak 19 July 2009, Reuters
- ↑ VIDEO: Climb Attack with Rhys Millen and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 30 July 2009, Autoblog.com
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhys Millen. |
- IMDB entry
- Official Site
- Formula D profile
- Rhys Millen Documentary Mad Skills
- Rhys Millen Interview before attacking the Pikes Peak Hill Climb
| Preceded by Samuel Hübinette |
Formula D Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Samuel Hübinette |