Great Pikes Peak video from Rhys Millen

One of the better videos I have seen from the event.

RED BULL HYUNDAI GENESIS COUPE AND RHYS MILLEN SET WORLD RECORD TO TAKE PIKES PEAK TIME ATTACK TITLE

World Champion Driver Rhys Millen Claims Ninth Mountain Win


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., July 19, 2009 – The 87th Annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has a new world record holder today - the Rhys Millen Racing Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe. World Champion driver Rhys Millen piloted the Genesis Coupe to his ninth overall class title, breaking one of his two world records in 17 trips to the Hill Climb.

"Driving the Genesis Coupe for the first time at Pikes Peak in front of thousands of fans is an amazing experience," said Millen. "Nothing compares to the pressure and thrill of Pikes Peak while competing against yourself for the record."

Millen set the record time of 12 minutes, 9 seconds (12:09.397) more than 1 minute and 23 seconds faster than his nearest competitor in the rear-wheel-drive Time Attack Class. At the finish line on the summit of Pikes Peak, Millen reported that the car that never skipped a beat, no matter how hard he challenged the diverse terrain and high altitude, and finished with both rear tires down to steel belts. Millen utilized the Genesis Coupe's rear-drive layout to its full potential, power-sliding his Genesis Coupe mere inches away from guard rails, trees and 2,000-foot cliffs, while besting his own record of 12 minutes, 31.61 seconds by 22 seconds.

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports race in America, second only to the Indianapolis 500, and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs. First run in 1916, this year marks the 87th running of the thrilling "Race to the Clouds."

The race is run on a course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the oxygen-depleted 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak. As the drivers climb toward the summit, the thin air slows reflexes and saps muscle strength. The thin air also robs engines of up to 30 percent of their power at the summit. It's a true test of endurance for competitors and vehicles.
This year the race has 11 classes and features a variety of automotive, semi-truck, exhibition, open wheel, super stock car, pro truck and motorcycle classes with a field approaching 200 competitors.

With more than 16 years of racing experience, Rhys Millen has established himself as one of the premier rally/drifting drivers in North America. Born in New Zealand in 1972, Rhys is the son of famed rally and off-road racer Rod Millen. Rhys joined Rod in the U.S. as a teenager and soon afterwards established himself as racer by taking first at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the Open Division and winning Rookie of the Year. He won the Formula Drift championship in 2005 and the Red Bull Drifting World Championship in 2008.

Millen and his team are an ideal match to help launch Hyundai's motorsports effort with the Genesis Coupe. Millen's driving credentials include movie stunts, multiple drifting championships, a Pikes Peak world record and his recent New Year's Eve Las Vegas truck flip. But behind Millen's success in the driver's seat is a full team of engineers and fabricators that know how to maximize the potential of a race car.

Millen had his first opportunity to test drive the Genesis Coupe's performance credentials when he performed precision driving for the car's debut advertising campaign airing during Super Bowl XLIII. Millen flogged a Genesis Coupe for a full three days during the filming process at Road Atlanta racetrack, and the car never stopped asking for more.

Rhys Millen Truck Backflip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GzbqTqGLv0

Rhys Millen Injured in practice for Red Bull Backflip

We hope he has a fast recovery, these incidents are scary but I have to give him immense credit for having the balls to try something so revolutionary.

-Matt

From Race Dezert.com...

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Keep Rhys Millen in your thoughts and prayers. He was injured today when his truck missed the padded landing area he was using. He was transported to a local trauma center for a complete evaluation and further care. I can not comment any further on his medical condition other then to say he was awake and oriented during transport.

Re: The Red Bull Experiment gone wrong!!!

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I have talked to Tanner Rhys's room mate today. Rhys is out of it because of pain meds right now. He is on his way to a different hospital where he is in good hands for his injury. He has 4 fractured vertebrate all in the neck area. It is a compression fracture that is thought to be from the top tube of the roll cage pushing down on his head. His helmet has a crushed zone that matches a tube. The cause is just speculation not fact.
Rhys is getting the results of a MRI to see how bad the injury is or if he needs surgery. He has feeling and movement from what I have been told. They are just making sure there are no bone fragments in the spinal canal.
I will keep you guys posted of his condition. i will be visiting him tonight or in the morning.
Please keep Rhys in your prayers!

__________________
Jerry Zaiden

Jerry,
Thank you for updating our community. I was vague in my initial post because there are certain legalities about releasing peoples medical info without consent. I have received numerous request for info and did not want to overstep my bounds, so I kept the info discrete and to the point.

Please pass on to Rhys, that all of us from the fire department that responded to his accident are thinking of him.

"Apparently the kicker portion of the ramp failed. He launched the truck straight up, landing it on the tailgate area on pavement."

More from RDC
I will try to elaborate a little on this since we responded to the accident. As Jesse said, they had landed the flip numerous times and were just doing some tweaking and adjustments.

The kicker portion of the ramp failed to collapse. This in turn put the truck into a wheelie position. It remained in that position throughout the flight. It did not over rotate or go upside down. The added launch of the kicker caused the truck to fly farther then the safety landing area. The truck landed on pavement, past the safety area (actually clipped the last portion of the safety on the way down), on its rear bumper.

We cut away a portion of the tube chassis to aid in extraction. We did this to avoid further injury to Rhys, not because he was trapped. It just made it much easier to get him out and not further injure him.

search out the videos here on this site or you tube to see how the kicker works. It just did not release this time.....

Backflip in a truck?

Red Bull driver Rhys Millen will attempt to complete a backflip in a truck on Dec 31ast, 2007 at the Rio in Las Vegas. The event will be broadcast live on ESPN. Click here for more info.