Filed under: Motorsports
Rhys Millen victorious at inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship
Like Ferrari winning the Italian Grand Prix or a Mazda atop the podium at Laguna Seca, Rhys Millen scored a fitting victory in his Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP at the very first Red Bull Drifting World Championship over the weekend. The event featured the top thirty-two drifters from around the world at a purpose-built track at the ports of Long Beach, CA. Formula Drift drivers dominated the event, taking six of the eight spots in the quarter finals and all four places in the semi finals. Millen survived five knockout rounds, defeating the likes of Ken Gushi, Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust and Vaughn Gitten, and eventually beat out teammate Daijiro Yoshihara in the all-Pontiac finals. More details on the event are in the press release following the jump, and we weathered the tire smoke and flying bits of rubber to bring you plenty of fantastic high resolution photos in the gallery below.
All photos copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
PRESS RELEASE:
Long Beach, Calif. – November 16, 2008 – Rhys Millen won the title of "World Champion" at the inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship. History was made with the top drifters from around the world competing for the largest prize purse in drifting history at the Port of Long Beach.
17 past and present drifting champions from the top drifting organizations in the world gathered in Long Beach, CA for the first Red Bull Drifting World Championship. First place qualifier Rhys Millen and his Red Bull Pontiac Solstice outperformed the competition to win the largest single prize of $25,000 in drifting history. Teammate Daijiro Yoshihara and his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO took home the 2nd place prize of $15,000 and the 2007 and 2008 Formula DRIFT champion, Tanner Foust and the Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z took home 3rd place overall and $10,000.
"To come up after one of the most challenging years in Formula DRIFT and finish in the top 3 and then to be the marquee driver at this premiere event and take the Red Bull Drifting Championship outright is a feeling I have never had before," says Rhys Millen, Formula DRIFT driver and event winner. "To stand on the podium with teammate Daijiro Yoshihara at this event to end the season is fantastic, what more could you ask for?"
Gathering at the Port of Long Beach were the top drivers that compete from Formula DRIFT, D1GP, D1 New Zealand, DMCC, Drift Australia, EDC, FD Singapore, IDS, Nordic Drift, New Zealand Drift, and Pro Drift. This was a battle of the champions and Formula DRIFT 2005 champion Millen came out on top.
"All the teams, fans, sponsors, supporters and especially Red Bull and the City of Long Beach made the Red Bull Drifting World Championship truly historical event," said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. "We were able to bring the entire drifting world together under one roof and made for one of the best drifting competitions ever."
The event was held at a special venue on the Port of Long Beach that featured a purpose built drifting track that was highlighted by a very fast entry and 6 technical turns. Event winner Millen set the speed bar high by also claiming the highest entry speed of the event with a speed of 103.7 miles per hour during the finals. The track proved to be challenging with many drivers falling victim to the walls and barricades and other drivers stepping up to show off their total car control.
The level of competition was at an all-time high and created one of the most exciting events in drifting history. The Top 32 drivers battled round by round and the semi-finals pitted (4) Formula DRIFT drivers against each other. Yoshihara got the best of 2-time Formula DRIFT Champion Samuel Hubinette in the Nuformz / Mopar Dodge Viper placing him into the Finals. Current Formula DRIFT champion Tanner Foust battled against Rhys Millen, with Millen coming out on top. The consolation round with Foust and Hubinette was a close fought battle, but Foust's consistent driving proved to be the deciding factor placing him in 3rd place. The final battle between teammates Millen and Yoshihara was a close fight, but Yoshihara decided his fate with a spin in the last round, giving the inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship to Rhys Millen.For more information visit www.formuladrift.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam Marcello 11:32AM (11/17/2008)
Steller job Rhys.
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neoscape 11:46AM (11/17/2008)
is it just the angle of that shot, or is the camber angle on that car outrageous?
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Mike 12:53PM (11/17/2008)
All drift cars have their suspensions modified for that kind of angle.
fixitfixitstop 11:48AM (11/17/2008)
I don't know how some of you can hate on the Solstice. Just look at that photo.
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tankd0g 3:20PM (11/17/2008)
I looks nice by itself. With a persons head bobbing around just above the window sill it looks a little out of proportion. Then there's the issue of having a big carpeted box in the truck that doesn't even contain sub woofers.
Joey Mazz 9:25PM (11/17/2008)
I personally love the solstice. As a matter of fact it's one of the few GM vehicles I actually like.
dan spalinger 11:52AM (11/17/2008)
Not exactly a sold out event...
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FFS 3:19PM (11/18/2008)
Red Bull events are never for profit...however the X-fighters is so popular its become very expensive
Franz 12:31PM (11/17/2008)
When I die, I wanna come back as Dietrich Mateschitz... Red Bull sponsors everything: from F1 to Rally cars to Air races & other extreme sports.
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Dude 12:31PM (11/17/2008)
Awesome!
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Adam Marcello 12:32PM (11/17/2008)
Actually the lack of popularity in the sport is kind of nice. The drivers and cars are very accessible at the events. The pits are open to spectators, Drivers will talk to you, take pictures and are very cool to be around. It still has a nice grassroots feel. You wont get that when the sport gets huge.
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Cypher09 12:39PM (11/17/2008)
I take it you've never been to an ALMS race.
vlspower 12:43PM (11/17/2008)
I'm sure the stands would have been more full if people's homes weren't being burnt the ground.
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Benfolio 1:55PM (11/17/2008)
Did every car but the Viper stuff it into the tire wall, or are they supposed to look that cobbled together?
BTW that BMW wagon is teh sex.
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eric 2:03PM (11/17/2008)
Not all the pictures have the stands full. I was there on sunday and the stands where very full during the races. They would empty really fast when the cars where not running. The pits are right behind the grandstands so the grandstands would be packed one minute and then empty the next. But mid way into a heat the stands got pretty full. I was surprised, but there could have been more if the fires where not so bad.
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Adam 2:11PM (11/17/2008)
You've gotta give mad props to RMR Racing. Dai and Rhys have come in 1-2 a couple of times this year, so they are obviously making excellent cars over there.
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Merritt Johnson 3:08PM (11/17/2008)
Mad Mike's RX-7 was defiantly an attention getter. It was hard to hear anything else when it was screaming around the course. Look for a post on his ride in coming days.
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duckie 7:57PM (11/17/2008)
I loved this event. Was my first drift event and I coudln't have asked for more. I thought the dai/ueo battle was the most amazing example of drifting for the day. Dai was throwing it out there like he hoped his final moments we spent in that car if it was ment to be, and Ueo was right there with him.
I also really liked that the judges seeme to listen to the crowd and was willing to give them one more time's when we liked what we saw and wanted the two to go at it again. Was just awesome and I can't wait to go to another event next year.
(oh and the quad rotar FD RX-7 sounded like it fed off the souls of the innocent, was awesome to hear)
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ronfarshler 1:07PM (11/19/2008)
Funny, a Red Bull sponsored driver won a Red Bull Sponsored event that is judged by arbitrary criteria.
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