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Toyota’s Ryan Millen Wins Olympus Rally and Takes Commanding Championship Lead

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Toyota RAV4 at 2017 Olympus Rally

Photo: ©Toyota

After narrowly losing the championship fight in the final to Cameron Steely’s Ford Fiesta last year, Ryan Millen and his Toyota RAV4 are having a much better time of it in 2017.

For the second straight year, Millen and the Rally RAV4 have won the Olympus Rally outside Shelton, WA, taking their third consecutive win of the season in the 2WD class. Ryan Millen and new co-pilot Rhianon Gelsomino have now won every event in the American Rally Association (ARA) so far, putting them a fair bit in the lead with 66 points, 23 points ahead of second place.

Cameron Steely in the Ford Fiesta dropped to third place in the overall standings. His car’s axle broke after completing just a single stage, forcing him out of the race and once more highlighting the Toyota’s reliability, which has consistently been a strong point over the years.


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“It’s something that we don’t have to worry about, again speaking for our reliability,” Millen said. “It’s unfortunate for him, but for us, big picture championship-wise, this puts us in a great position.”

A new challenger stepped up in a modified Subaru BRZ to give Millen and the RAV4 a challenge at the Olympus Rally, but they too suffered durability woes with two stages remaining. Ultimately Millen won the event a final margin of victory of more than seven minutes, an incredible feat.

Thanks to their at the first three rallies, Team Millen and the Rally RAV4 only need to win one of the remaining three rallies in the season to all but secure the ARA championship.


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Source: American Rally Association