Rhys Millen
Millen at NJMP, 2010
Nationality New Zealand
Born (1972-09-06) 6 September 1972
New Zealand
Related toRod Millen (father)
Steve Millen (uncle)
Ryan Millen (brother)
Global Rallycross career
Debut season2011
Current teamRhys Millen Racing
Car number67
Starts31
Wins2
Podiums2
Best finish3rd in 2011
Finished last season10th (2014)
Previous series
Formula D

Rhys Rodney Millen (born 6 September 1972)[1] is a New Zealand-born racing driver.

Nephew of IMSA GTS driver Steve Millen, son of Rodney 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 the following years he competed in the Global Rallycross series.

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.

Racing record

ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenLast 4 [Semi-final]
BlueLast 8 [Quarter-final]
PurpleLast 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle]
(Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
(Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification)
WhiteFirst Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs]
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
  • When driver's position are highlighted in blue, this indicates either the driver earned 100pt or 100pt tansou (solo run) bonus has been awarded, with the latter being in use for Pre-2005.

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

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

AWD

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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

Supercar

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 GRC Points
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
2016 Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Veloster PHO1
8		 PHO2
9		 DAL
8		 DAY1
6		 DAY2
9		 MCAS1
 MCAS2† DC
 AC
 SEA
 LA1
 LA2
 10th 96

†Race cancelled.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rhys Millen". Global RallyCross Championship. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Serious Wheels - 2009 RMR Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  3. ↑ Rhys Millen Hyundai Genesis Coupe Drift Car Gets Lambda Engine Archived 10 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine 05-06-2009, Edmunds.com
  4. ↑ Rhys Millen's drift car finally ready to run with Hyundai Power 5 May 2009, Autoblog.com
  5. ↑ Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Rhys Millen Set World Record to Take Pikes Peak 19 July 2009, Reuters
  6. ↑ VIDEO: Climb Attack with Rhys Millen and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 30 July 2009, Autoblog.com
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