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| Rhys Millen to Race Pontiac Solstice GXP To The Clouds At Pikes Peak |
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Pontiac Solstice GXP Red Bull Formula Drifting standout Rhys Millen will run the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - The Race to the Clouds on July 21. The 14-time participant and double Hill Climb record holder will take his drifting expertise back to the mountain for another run to the clouds in the new Time Attack class.
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the world's highest auto race, starting at 9,400 feet and finishing above 14,110 feet. Millen will manuever his 550 horsepower Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP through the 156-turn, 12.42 mile mix of dirt and pavement tract to the top of Pikes Peak. The mountain terrain is a little different surface for the Solstice and Millen who is used to the closed, tight confines of a controlled asphalt Formula Drift event. The Californian will be going for speed on the stop-watch instead of style points.
This will be my 15th year running the Hill Climb, Millen said. I have won six times and hold two records. We decided to take the Pontiac Solstice to the Hill because the organizers have formed a new Time Attack class. Time Attack is becoming a very popular within the sport compact market.
What we are doing is taking the drift form of racing back to its roots on the mountain, Millen explains. Drifting began on the mountain roads, we then took it to stadiums, small ovals, and wide open asphalt arenas and now it is all going back to the dirt. The same driving technique that it takes to be successful in drifting are the identical car control methods that you use to get up the Hill fast.
Millen explains the new Time Attack class, The Pikes Peak Hill Climb organizers have created a new class called Time Attack. This is specifically for the type of cars we use in drifting - the production based, two-wheel drive modified street car. The other classes are similar to NASCAR or open-wheel with specially built, nearly unlimited modifications to chassis, tires and suspension setups. It is nice that the organizers have taken into account the popularity of the sport-compact market and that we are welcome at Pikes Peak.
The last time I ran there was in 2004 in a Pontiac GTO. I took a lot of what I learned at the Hill and applied it to drifting, I believe that is why we had the early success we did. The low grip surface of the hill and the way you drive in drifting events is very similar, so we had that knowledge, now we are taking it back to the hill and hopefully have an advantage from the know-how accumulated from four years of drifting competition.
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