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Rhys Millen and His Pontiac Solstice Attack Pikes Peak
Most of you know that Pontiac has a world class Drift Team with Rhys Millen sliding around the nation in his Pontiac Solstice GXP.
What you may not know is that Rhys and team are working around the clock to get the Solstice ready for the 85th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The hill climb will take the green flag this Saturday, July 21.
The Formula Drift driver and 15-year veteran of The Race to the Clouds has done all of his homework to transition the Solstice GXP from a drift car to hill climb racer.
This transition was accomplished in only 24 hours as Millen competed in round four of the Formula Drift championship just two days ago in Evergreen, WA. He managed to finish ninth after experiencing some electrical problems.
“We
qualified fifth at the Evergreen, WA round of the Formula Drift Championship,”
Millen said. “A two-point spread separated the top six competitors after
qualifying. We lined up for top-16 elimination. We then dropped a
cylinder at the start line. We had a line arcing out to one of the coils
and that shut down the cylinder.”
The team is headed from Washington to the airport in Leadville, CO to do some high-elevation engine tuning. The Leadville airport boasts the highest elevation airstrip in North America at 9,927 feet. Millen will be doing high-speed runs to properly tune the 550-horsepower ECOtech turbo-charged Solstice GXP power plant for the Pikes Peak race. The car will then go to Colorado Springs where it will make its first run up the mountain on Tuesday morning as practice gets under way for the 85th running of this historic event.
“We will be loading into Mike Shaw Pontiac GMC tonight,” Millen continued. “The dealership is great; it is at the bottom of the hill and a great place to work for the week. It becomes an advantage, as preparation is everything.
"And to do it in a nice clean professional setting is all the better. Spare parts just feet away are a racer’s dream.”
Good Luck Rhys and we look forward to hearing how you do!
Photo of the Week
Erica Nocita burns rubber in her ECOtec-powered Chevy Cobalt at Irwindale Raceway.
