Rhys Millen wins Pikes Peak

Rhys Millen has won the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb... by less than two hundredths of a second. That's close.

The legendary drifter - and son of Rod Millen - took the crown in the annual ‘Race to the Clouds' in less time than it takes to blink your amazement, snatching the win from former Audi Le Mans winner Romain Dumas who was piloting a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Just to clarify, Rhys finished the hillclimb in 9m 46.164s - a new world record in itself, some five seconds quicker than previous record-holder ‘Monster' Tajima's 2011 run - while Dumas clocked in at 9m 46.181s. To think they finished up so close to each other over 12.42 miles up the side of a mountain beggars belief. A mountain race don't forget, that's been entirely paved for the first time in its long and slidey history.

As for ‘Monster', he unfortunately had to retire due to problems with his electric racer, but he did vow to come back next year. We'll have more pictures and the full race report coming your way shortly, so stay tuned to TG.com. In the meantime, have a gander at our pre-race report here, and watch a new video Audi has released, celebrating its tie-up with Ducati, below. An RS5 liveried in Quattro decals appears. Nice.