Hill climbing? Please. While Europeans spend the weekend drive up a nobleman’s driveway in Goodwood Festival of Speed, we at ‘Murica were down and dirty with the 100th running up Pikes Peak. In the reversal of prejudices, it is we who speak too low. The “hill” climbs to one of the highest peaks in the Rockies, finishing 14,115 feet above sea level. To get there, it takes you 156 turns over 12.42 miles, some of which look like paved skies, because they have no railing between the asphalt edge and the sheer slide.
In reality, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb even older than 100 years. The first event took place in 1916, but in 1917-19 and 1942-45 the so-called Race to the Clouds was halted due to several world wars. This year’s event was marked by wet weather that dashed the hopes of several teams trying to break a new record.
Porsche 911 Turbo S Light Pack by David DonnerFor example, many are expected to reclaim the production car record this year. Donner is a three-time PPIHC champion and production car record in 2014 with the 991-generation Turbo S. A. Bentley Continental GT driven by Rhys Millen beat it in 2019therefore Porsche would love to get it back. Donner broke production qualifying times earlier in the week, but even seasoned pros were unable to perform their skills on the runway due to wet surfaces and low visibility due to fog. dense on race day. The result was 10:34,053, 15 seconds slower than Millen’s 10:18,488, still good enough to take the top spot and second overall.
Acura to Colorado to start sports car racing Launched in 2023 Integra. While the entry-level sports sedan, equipped with a stock engine but modified with a host of HPD features, ranks 9th in the production classification, Acura do not go home empty-handed. A 2022 NSX The Type S driven by Nick Robinson took third place in the category. In second place is Daijiro Yoshihara with a Tesla Model WILL. In recent years, Electric Car have become a force to be reckoned with, especially since they are unaffected by high altitudes that negatively impact internal combustion automobiles.
The poor conditions caused rookie Levi Shirley’s Ultra 4 to fail. Fortunately, it is located near the lower sections, where there is still a significant amount of water flowing through the end of the sidewalk. To my surprise, Shirley dropped the wheel in the video above, and simply continued driving through the fog of pea soup.
Another Porsche disappointment comes from Ken Block’s much-discussed customization, 911 horsepower 1,400. Unfortunately, an engine blowout caused the 2,200-pound AWD machine to fail qualifying.
UK’s Robin Shute took the top honors overall with his Honda-powered TSC Wolf in the no-limit class. But for how the weather affects the proceedings, his 10:09,525 time is almost a minute behind his 2019 winning time of 9:12,476.
Last but not least, a participant driven by nostalgia is the form of Rod Millen Toyota Tacoma. The legendary machine won the PPIHC in 1998 and 1999, and produced 750 hp”truck“was taken out of the race to race again. This year it hit the 11:06.152 mark, almost a minute from the 10:11.15 time won in 1999 (which took place before the pitch was fully paved). ).
In most races, racers go head-to-head with each other. But at Pikes Peak, the competition is just the mountain, and there’s a saying, “The mountain decides”. This year, it’s decided to rain on the record-challenging hopefuls’ parades.
