Motorsport: Millen in hotseat for Pikes Peak glory

Rhy Millen will campaign a purpose-built Hyundai-powered machine in the Unlimited class at this year's Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Photo / Alastair Ritchie

Kiwi-born Rhys Millen will be chasing the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb record his old man held for an impressive 12 years.

Rhys will drive a highly-motivated, Hyundai-powered hillclimb special in the event, while father Rod will also hit the hill - albeit in a far less powerful machine than his record-setting Toyota Celica.

Rhys' purpose-built RMR PM580 had a crack at the Colorado climb last year, but was very early in its development stages.

This year, it will be taking on the high-altitude challenge - which runs from 2895m to around 4270m - with far more chance of success.

Rhys will take a hard run at the outright record, and the magic 10-minute barrier, which has eluded Millen snr's nemesis - Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima - who holds the record of 10:01.

"Breaking into the 9s has been a dream of mine for the last 10 years," said Rhys. "With the precise technical adjustments we made to the PM580 this year, coupled with the increase in tarmac near the course summit, the prospect of another world record is better than ever.

"We plan on being the fastest car up the hill and getting the world record back in the family name, the Millen name."

Sixty-year-old Tajima says this year will be his last visit, as he attempts to put a wild, 1000hp Suzuki over the line to cement his place in the history books at the 89th running of the Colorado.

But any freshly set record is arguably invalid - the hillclimb course has changed radically in recent years as the tight and twisting public road has gradually changed from mostly dirt to mostly bitumen.

The Rhys Millen tube-framed racer fits into the wild Unlimited class - the top level of the event - and is powered by a Hyundai-developed Lambda V6. It uses a production block, heads and valve train from the V6.

Father Rod Millen will run another RMR vehicle - a Genesis Coupe - which also uses the tricked-out V6, in the 2WD production class.

Millen (the younger) has competed in a number of disciplines in the US - including rallying, reaching the pinnacle of world drifting twice - and has worked as lead stunt driver on movies such as The Dukes of Hazzard and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.