Race To The Clouds

Like everything else sporting, US motorsport tends to be at a slightly different angle to the rest of the world. Europeans have a habit of not paying much attention to series like Indycar and comprehension grinds to a halt when it comes to NASCAR.

Pikes Peak - Peugeot 405 T16

One event that kicks our scrawny, rotten-toothed arses into next week is the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, surely one of the most spectacular motoring happenings in the world and also one of the oldest.

Pikes Peak is in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It rises to 14,115 ft. The man who it was named after, Zebulon Pike, swore that humans would never conquer it. He was somewhat wrong.

The first road to the summit was built in 1900. The first car, a Locomobile Steamer, took 9 hours to reach the top in 1901. The first competition event took place over a weekend in August 1916 to publicise the widening of the road to the top.

The winning time was 20 minutes, 55 seconds, set by Rea Lentz in the Romano Demon Special. The current record, on an almost unchanged route, is 10 minutes and 1 second set by Monster Tajima in a Suzuki XL7.

The Winners - 1916 vs 2007

The course is 12.4 miles long with 156 bends over a combination of tarmac, gravel and plenty of open drops. It rises nearly a mile from the start line at 9400 ft. The altitude change is so extreme that cars lose 30% of their power between the start and finish.

For years it was dominated by US drivers in the Open Wheel division – custom-built specials with huge V8s and huger wings. Some of the greatest names in motorsport such as the Unser family and Mario Andretti were winners.

Dallenbach Special - Open Wheeler

During the 80s it attracted the attention of international manufacturer teams and a foreign invasion brought new technology and higher speeds to the hill. Millions were spent custom-building specials like the Suzuki Escudo and Peugeot 405 T16, monsters with 1000+ bhp and every technological trick out there.

It’s not only for millionaires. There are several different divisions and often 150 competitors spread through the classes over the weekend’s racing. In addition to various car classes there are also bikes, quads and trucks competing.

PIkes Peak Competitors in action

All going well we’ll see you on the mountain at the end of June. There’s not much point in trying to convey any more with words, so we’ll leave it to the mountain masters.