Millen Is Back In The House

Colorado Springs, April 11 – Rhys Millen will be back on America’s Mountain again on July 8 for the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and that’s great news for fans of the nation’s second-oldest motor sport race.

Stymied by a brake failure in the stretch last summer, Millen will be back for another attempt at the overall record at the Race to the Clouds, this time back in his familiar Time Attack Division in a hot new 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

New Zealander Millen, who has become one of the race’s legends, will be competing at Pikes Peak for the 20th time in his career.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1992 and has won seven championships, mainly in Time Attack. He was the division’s 2WD champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

He was second in the Unlimited division last year behind the record-setting performance of Japan’s Nobuhiro Tajima, who became the first driver to crack the elusive ten-minute mark with his clocking of 9:51.278. Millen drove his Hyundai RMR PM580 to a 10:09.242 despite the unfortunate brake issues.

Millen becomes part of a highly-competitive Time Attack field that now includes 2011 champion Brianne Corn, the first woman to win on the Peak since Michele Mouton in 1985, and third place finisher Toshiki Yoshioka. (Time Attack 2WD and 4WD have been combined into one division this year).  Also in the field is 2010 Rookie of the Year, Denver teenager Savannah Rickli, then the youngest female ever to finish the race during her third-place effort.

Pulse – The Safer Braking Technology, has joined Rhys Millen Racing as a co-primary sponsor on the No. 67 car in the upcoming 2012 Formula Drift, Global RallyCross Championship and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Now entering his 21st year racing, Millen continues to be an industry leader and one of the most sought after performance drivers in the automotive scene. Born in New Zealand in 1972, Rhys is the son of famed Pikes Peak, rally and off road racer Rod Millen.  Rhys joined Rod in the U.S. as a teenager and founded Rhys Millen Racing at the age of 21.  RMR (Rhys Millen Racing) is an automotive fabrication, tuning and parts facility concentrating on rally, drift and movie car preparation in Huntington Beach, CA.

“Pulse is proud to launch this new partnership between Pulse and Rhys Millen Racing. With Hyundai and Rhys Millen having such a rich heritage in Formula Drift, Global Rally Cross, and the International Pikes Peak Hill Climb, we could not imagine a better way to promote the Pulse Safer Braking Technology message of helping protect drivers from rear-end collisions,” said Mark Patrzik, Pulse Racing Program Manager

Millen was second last year (10:09.242) in the Unlimited Division at Pikes Peak and Rod won the Time Attack 2WD title in his first appearance on the Peak in a decade.