Toyota and Ford All Tied Up Ahead of Final Rally America Race
Photo: © Toyota
The fight for the Rally America National Championship continues between Toyota and Ford, and it couldn’t get any closer than this.
Ryan Millen and co-pilot Christina Fate scored first place in their Toyota RAV4 at the Ojibwe Forests Rally over the final weekend of August, bringing the championship with Cameron Steely and Ford in the 2WD class to a tie ahead of the final round. With exactly 118 points each, there’s everything to play for at the final race in the National Championship.
Millen and Fate have more to be happy about than simply setting themselves up for a spectacular finish, though; they didn’t just win in the 2WD Class at Ojibwe: they won the whole thing regardless of vehicle class, even defeating competitors with highly-modified, more powerful vehicles that, realistically, you’d expect to finish ahead.
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Photo: © Toyota
A new suspension package from Tein, combined with the RAV4’s bulletproof reliability, did well to improve the SUV’s pace and give it the edge and consistency Millen needed to take the win. Now he’s only looking ahead.
“It’s crazy to spend a whole year trying to be as consistent as possible, and now it’s come down to one race,” he said. “We’re hungry for it, they’re hungry for it. There’s only one goal…winner take all.”
Besides a no-finish at the 100 Acre Wood Rally back in March, Millen and Toyota have never finished outside of the top two this season, taking three wins and three 2nd places over the course of seven races. The eighth and final race will take place in just over a month at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Houghton, Michigan. We can’t wait to see how it will all turn out!
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