(May 26, 2011) HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (PRNewswire) — Hyundai, Red Bull, and Rhys Millen Racing will attempt to set multiple world records at this year's Pikes Peak International Hill climb in June.

Rhys Millen will compete in the unlimited class with the Hyundai-powered RMR PM580 purpose-built tube-framed race car, while Rhys' father, Rod Millen, will compete in the 2WD production class with the Genesis Coupe race car.

Both race cars use production engine blocks, heads and valvetrain from the Hyundai-developed Lambda V-6 engine family as core building blocks for their race-worthy performance and durability.

Rhys formerly set a world record in the Genesis Coupe for the production-based 2WD class in 2009. The hill climb course was revised with significant increases in the ratio of tarmac to dirt for 2010, effectively reducing the time to the summit for all competitors.

"Breaking into the 9's has been a dream of mine for the last 10 years," said Rhys Millen. "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."

RMR PM580 race car
will go after Pike's Peak record

For 2011, Rod Millen will join Rhys for the time attack up Pikes Peak in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe developed by Rhys Millen Racing. Rod will compete in the production-based 2WD class, the same class world record held by Rhys in the Genesis Coupe only two years ago.

"I didn't have to look far for the caliber of driver I wanted for the Genesis," said Rhys. "Over the Christmas holiday, while exchanging gifts, I asked my father what he thought about taking the Genesis Coupe to the summit once again. His smile told me all I needed to know."

Rod Millen is also a former Pikes Peak world record holder of some 13 years, from 1994 to 2007. His former world record time was 10:04.06, but technology improvements and course changes that include an increase in the ratio of tarmac to dirt now make finishes in the 9-minute realm possible. "The possibility of world records in two unique classes makes my father and I really excited about the team's prospects for this year," said Rhys.

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motorsports race in America, second only to the Indianapolis 500, and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs. First run in 1916, this year marks the 89th running of the thrilling "Race to the Clouds."

The race is run on a course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the oxygen-starved 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak.

As drivers and their race cars approach the summit, the steady reduction in oxygen density reduces engine power potential and can dull critical driver reflexes. The thin air continues to push man and machine to their limits with every turn of the course. It is estimated the oxygen levels at the summit reduce engine power up to 30 percent, making powerful forced induction technology critical for the quickest competitors.

Further, Pikes Peak is a natural closed course racing circuit, with wind, weather and terrain changing constantly, elevating required skill and experience levels and making the final outcome uncertain until the last competitor crosses the checkered flag.