Rhys Millen, son of three-time New Zealand Rally Champion Rod Millen, needs little introduction yet his own mark on the world of records continues to expand.
His driving accomplishments are incredibly diverse, yet it is a typical Kiwi trait of flying below the radar while leaving an impression that supplements his stunt driving career with yet another Pikes Peak International Hill Climb result.
The 96th running of the Race to the Clouds, the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was Millen’s 25th appearance. Yet for 2018 he wasn’t earmarked for an outright victory. Having two of those already to his name, 2018 would be the year he would drive the Bentley Bentayga to claim yet another title: Fastest Production SUV.
There to better the time posted previously by a Range Rover Sport in 2014, it was a campaign by Bentley to leverage a result at the world acclaimed event to cement a marketing stance of being world’s fastest SUV.
“The Bentley Bentayga with the six-litre W12 cylinder engine is touted as the fastest production SUV and that space is growing tremendously with Porsche, Mercedes and Lamborghini,” commented Millen during the 2018 event.
“It is quite surprising how well it is doing and while everyone else is on a pure race tyre we are on a DOT tyre and with airbag suspension – as it is delivered by the dealer – for the purpose of that production record.
“Surprisingly the car has power and torque is making up for a lot of that weight – it is just shy of 5,000lbs, so is a lot of weight to haul up the mountain but has a lot of torque to push it.”
Millen set a time of 10:49.902 – bettering the time set by fellow Pikes Peak Hill Climb winner, family friend and stunt driving compatriot Paul Dallenbach by over a minute.
“To take a luxury SUV with minimal modifications and be able to drive up this course in under 11 minutes is a huge testament to the performance and level of engineering in the Bentayga,” said Millen.
“I had a great run – the car was planted all the way up and gave me the confidence I needed to push hard. I’m delighted to take the SUV record for Bentley and for everyone who’s been involved in this project.”
Millen’s fastest result was posted in 2016 of 8:57.118, joining Sebastien Loeb and Romain Dumas as the only three competitors to finish the course in under nine minutes at the time.
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