Toyota RAV4 Team Wins First Rally

Toyota’s motorsports participation is best known for the Camry cars and Tundra trucks it runs in NASCAR races. Although we have great respect for that series, those vehicles have very little in common with the trucks and cars that one will find on a Toyota dealers’ lot. However, the Toyota RAV4 that won a race this past week in Minnesota is very much like the ones you can find at your local dealer. That makes it much more interesting to us.

We won’t pretend to have a comprehensive understanding of the rally series that Toyota is wrapped up in, but one particular statement in Toyota’s announcement caught our eye. Toyota is proud that its team and driver Ryan Millenco-pilot Christina Fate , “..not only put the Rally RAV4 in a points tie with Cameron Steely in the 2WD Class, but it is the first time the team finished on the podium overall, regardless of vehicle class, nudging out more powerful, highly modified competitors.” Way to go Toyota.

Rallys are run in timed stages. Each car drives the same course and standings are based on the time run. At the Ojibwe Forests Rally, Millen and Fate pulled ahead in the third stage and by Stage 9, their competitors were still within 45 seconds of their elapsed time. Millen and co-pilot Christina Fate are now headed to the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Houghton, Mich. on October 14 for a winner-take-all season finale.

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