Rhys Millen victorious at inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship

[ZilviaBot]

11-17-2008 10:27 AM

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/motorsports/" rel="tag">Motorsports</a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161594/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_lead2.jpg" alt=""></a><br><strong><em><small>Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship</small></em></strong></p>
<p>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. </p>
<p><div><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/">2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161540/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_01_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title=""></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161541/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title=""></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161542/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_03_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title=""></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161543/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_04_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title=""></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-red-bull-drifting-world-championship/1161544/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_05_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title=""></a></div><br><strong>All photos copyright (C)2008 </strong><a href="http://www.drewphillipsphotography.com/"><strong>Drew Phillips</strong></a><strong> / Weblogs, Inc.</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/rhys-millen-victorious-at-inaugural-red-bull-drifting-world-cham/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Rhys Millen victorious at inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/rhys-millen-victorious-at-inaugural-red-bull-drifting-world-cham/">Rhys Millen victorious at inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:27:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear:both;padding:8px 0 0 0;height:2px;font-size:1px;border:0;margin:0;padding:0"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/rhys-millen-victorious-at-inaugural-red-bull-drifting-world-cham/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>Â*|Â*<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1373696/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>Â*|Â*<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/rhys-millen-victorious-at-inaugural-red-bull-drifting-world-cham/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/IAQoLT9dFkw/)

[LongGrain]

i'll be the first to say it

what a surprise...

[JeremyR]

sarcasm is hard to pickup on the internets


redbull sponsored driver wins the redbull event. LAWLS.

[dirtdiggler666]

ya hummmmm im sure that had nothing to do with it

a major sponsor should not be able to hold an event, i remember them saying they were going to keep the track lay out a secret. ya i bet they did no one got to see it, but one lucky guy.

[SimpleSexy180]

my eyes were bleeding until i saw the FC

[worangejuice]

This car should have won, so much for drifting around the world grandness as it was to be.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/redbulldriftwcsat_64.jpg

[foreverdark]

Dai was running perfect all day and all of a sudden he spins out perfectly around rhys on the 2nd run. I hate to say it but I think it was rigged.

[ILoveMyRHS13]

Dai was running perfect all day and all of a sudden he spins out perfectly around rhys on the 2nd run. I hate to say it but I think it was rigged.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks all of Formula D is rigged...

[foreverdark]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks all of Formula D is rigged...
I don't think that all events are but man come Dai was killing it all day and then all of a sudden bam. Rhys must of had a spin out trigger in Dai's car and pushed the button in his car to make him spin out at the percise time. I just feel bad for Dai.

[Z33dori]

i fucking hate Formula D

most garbage tandems and judging in the world.

i've been more excited watching shitty beginner grassroots tandems.

[OMGYO]

Its seriously staged. or at least it appeared to be. Red bull car wins at red bull event sounds pretty staged to me, even if i wasn't there and i heard that, I would think that.

[articdragon192]

The judging was very questionable. But it's not like Rhys was driving crappy either.

[foreverdark]

The judging was very questionable. But it's not like Rhys was driving crappy either.I agree 100%

[nieko]

yea.. rhys did get super close to the roll and he did ride that wall like no tomorrow..

but i remember listening to the judge

"ya his entry was.. and he rode the wall um.. um ya i dont even remember lets just see it one more time! yA!"

that sounded fucking confident... judge doesnt even know what happened