Millen takes maiden win at Daytona

Rhys Millen scored the first win of his Red Bull Global Rallycross career in convincing fashion at Round Six of the season at Daytona.



The Kiwi, who had shown strong pace throughout the weekend, jumped into the lead at the start of the final before going on to cross the line more than 1.8 seconds ahead of second placed Ken Block.

Claiming his first win at such an iconic venue clearly meant a lot to Millen, who was thrilled to join the exclusive club of Daytona race winners.

"It's fantastic to come to a venue like this that has such a rich history in US motorsport." Said Millen after the final. "To achieve what we did today, I wouldn't have thought possible three or four races ago and to do it on the sacred ground, what a phenominal opportunity to go down in the record books as a winner here."


The win for Millen looks to be a turning point for the Hyundai squad who have been getting quicker with every round this season

"You should have seen the smile on my face on monday after the test, and it's still there today." He said. "We are very excited".

The weekend wasn't all plain sailing for Millen though who suffered an engine failure at the end of the first day of the event, and again just after the conclusion of the final.

"Blew the engine on the last lap again," he admitted, "I think we were just revving it a little too hard down the front straight-away but it lasted as long as it needed to."

Adding to the engine dramas, the post-race technical inspection revealed that Millen's Hyundai Veloster breached regulations by carrying equpment forbidden by section 14-9.1 of the Red Bull GRC rulebook. While Millen will keep the win, he will be stripped of 50 points in the championship as well as being hit with a fine - penalties which can be appealed.