Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Location	Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
First race	1916
Circuit information
Surface	Tarmac (and Historically, Dirt)
Length	12.42 mi (19.99 km)
Turns	156
Lap record	9:46.164 (Rhys Millen, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, 2012)

Randy Schranz rising above treeline at the 85th Race to the Clouds, 2007.

Suzuki Grand Vitara at the 2006 Race to the Clouds

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track measures 12.42 miles (19.99 km) over 156 turns, climbing 4,720 ft (1,440 m) from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway, to the finish at 14,110 ft (4,300 m), on grades averaging 7%. It used to consist of both gravel and paved sections, however as of August 2011, the highway is fully paved and as a result all subsequent runnings will be on tarmac from start to finish.

The race is on the FIA International Events Calendar and has featured competition from United States rally sanctioning body SCCA ProRally in 2004 and Rally America in 2005. It has taken place since 1916, making it the second oldest motorsport event in the United States of America. It is currently contested by a variety of classes of cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads. There are often numerous new classes tried and discarded year-to-year. On average there are 150 competitors.

History

The first running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb was promoted by Spencer Penrose. Penrose had finished widening the narrow carriage road into a much wider "Pikes Peak Highway." He decided to encourage tourists to visit by creating a race to the clouds.

The oldest current class is the Open Wheel division which has been run since 1916 and has been won by such names as Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, and Robby Unser (the current class record holder, achieving 10 minutes 5.85 seconds in 1994). On July 4, 1966, Bobby Unser won the event overall for the eighth time in ten years. The event was part of the AAA and USAC IndyCar championship from 1946 to 1970. First in the Stock Car class was Nick Sanborn Jr in an Oldsmobile Toronado. The overall record is held by Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima from Japan who clocked a time of 9 minutes 51.278 seconds on June 26, 2011 driving the 910 hp mid-engined Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special, breaking the previous record (set in 2007 by himself) by more than ten seconds. The winning time in 1916 was 20:55.40, set by Rea Lentz.

In 1984 the first European racers took part in the PPIHC with Norwegian Rallycrosser Martin Schanche (Ford Escort Mk3 4x4) and French Rally lady Michèle Mouton (Audi Sport quattro), thereby starting a new era for the in Europe by then almost unknown American hillclimb. While Schanche failed to set a new track record, due to a flat right front tyre, Mouton (together with her World Rally Championship co-driver Fabrizia Pons from Italy) won the Open Rally category, but also failed to break the current overall track record.

In 1989, an award-winning short film about the 1988 event was released by French director Jean-Louis Mourey. The film, titled Climb Dance, captured the efforts of Finnish former World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, as he won the event in a record-breaking time with his turbocharged Peugeot 405 T16.

The 2011 running was the last running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb that had dirt sections of the course, for approximately 30% of the route, as Colorado Springs is being forced by a Sierra Club lawsuit to pave the road all the way to the summit. The paving project was completed in August, 2011.

The likes of Hill Climb champion Rod Millen have warned that paving the road will put an end to the race. However, the 2012 race saw over 170 racer registrations by December 2011, compared with 46 at the same time in 2011. Registration for the 2012 event had to be stopped to allow management of all the registrations they have received. Consideration was made to create a qualifying system for the 2012 race, and to run the 2013 race as a two-day event.

The 2012 race, originally scheduled for July 8, was postponed until August 12 due to the Waldo Canyon fire.

The 2012 race saw numerous unusual occurrences, namely a larger field than ever before and the longest race day in the race's known history. The 2012, 90th running of the race was the first time the race has been run on all tarmac and saw the toppling of several records, notably the overall record, being set by first Romain Dumas in the Open Division only to be overturned later in the day by Rhys Millen, son of the famed Rod Millen, in the Time Attack Division. Nobuhiro Tajima, the 2011 winner and at the time overall record holder, running in the Electric Division saw a surprising upset when his car caught fire in the lower portion of the course causing a DNF. One of the unusual highlights, and proof that tarmac has changed the race; Mike Ryan spun his big rig in a hairpin in a section called the "W"s, slamming into the guard rail, he then managed to execute a three point turn and continued on course, at which point he broke his old record by 5 seconds. The race also saw the first ever motorcycle to achieve a sub 10 minute time with Carlin Dunne in the 1205 Division riding a Ducati pulling out a 9:52.819 (only a bit over a second slower than the 2011 overall record).

Due to the race's postponement, weather also caused issues. Towards the end of the raceday, freezing rain and snow closed in on the summit, causing a race stoppage and the eventual relocation of the finish line to Glen Cove.

Current records

Nobuhiro Tajima's Suzuki SX4 during his record breaking 9:51 run in 2011

Ralph Murdock breaking the vintage class modified (RMVR modified) record with a time of 12:51.004 in a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro

Cars

Record	Driver	Car	Year	Time	Speed	Notes
Electric	Fumio Nutahara	Toyota Motorsport TMG EVP002	2012	10:15.380	116.9 km/h
Production Electric	Chad Hord	Nissan Leaf	2011	14:33.429	82.4 km/h
Open Wheel	Robby Unser	ADT/Speedway Chevy	1994	10:05.850	118.8 km/h
Pikes Peak Open	Romain Dumas	Porsche GT3R	2012	9:46.181	122.8 km/h
Super Stock Car	Clint Vahsholtz	Mustang	2011	10:55.603	109.8 km/h
Time Attack	Rhys Millen	Hyundai Genesis Coupe	2012	9:46.164	122.8 km/h	Overall
Unlimited	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki SX4	2011	9:51.278	121.7 km/h
Vintage	Jess Neal	Plymouth 'Cuda	2012	12:03.858	99.4 km/h

Motorcycles

Record	Rider	Motorcycle	Year	Time	Speed	Notes
250cc	Jason Archuleta	Yamaha YZ250	2012	11:41.015	102.6 km/h
450cc	Travis Newbold	Honda CRF450X	2012	11:06.618	107.9 km/h
750cc	Gary Trachy	TM 660 SMX	2012	10:40.753	112.3 km/h
1205cc	Carlin Dunne	Ducati Multistrada 1200	2012	9:52.819	121.4 km/h	Overall
Sidecar	John-Thomas Wood	Suzuki Windle F2	2012	11:41.406	102.6 km/h
Vintage	Marc LaNoue	Triumph Bonnie	2012	12:39.782	94.7 km/h
Quad Modified	Steve Tutt	Honda TRX450R	2012	11:40.521	102.7 km/h

Current racing classes

Car and truck

• Unlimited – "Anything Goes" This class is for anything assuming it passes technical inspection.
• Open Wheel – The traditional Pikes Peak race car. These range from Indy style cars to buggies.
• Mini Sprint – Small bore Open Wheel category. Smaller and lighter with no more than 220 cu in (3.6 L) engines and no forced induction.
• Super Stock Car – Traditional tube-frame stock cars. Must be less than 10 years old.
• Pro Trucks – Purpose-built tube-frame off-road pickups and SUVs.
• Pikes Peak Open – Cars or trucks that look like a stock vehicle from the outside, but retain little of the original design.
• Time Attack 4wd – Production based AWD or 4wd vehicles
• Time Attack 2wd – Production based 2wd vehicles.
• HPSS (High Performance Showroom Stock) – These are stock performance vehicles with upgraded safety features.
• Exhibition Car/Truck – Cars and trucks that don't fit into standard categories. Often these categories feature advances in alternative fuels or technologies.
• Vintage (RMVR) – New category for 2008
• Vintage Modified (RMVR Modified)
• Electric

Motorcycle and quad

• Motorcycle 1205 CC
• Motorcycle 750 CC
• Motorcycle 450 CC
• Motorcycle 250 CC
• Motorcycle Vintage
• Motorcycle Sidecar
• Quad Modified
• Exhibition Powersport

Winners

Rod Millen's Pikes Peak Toyota Tacoma

Unlimited Class

Year	Winner	Car	Time
1981	Bud Hoffpauir	Wells Coyote Special Roadster	13:10.100
1982	John Buffum	Audi Quattro	12:20.520
1983	John Buffum	Audi Quattro	12:27.910
1984	Michèle Mouton	Audi Sport Quattro	12:10.380
1985	Michèle Mouton	Audi Sport Quattro	11:25.390
1986	Bobby Unser	Audi Sport Quattro SL	11:09.220
1987	Walter Rohrl	Audi Sport Quattro	10:47.850
1988	Ari Vatanen	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	10:47.220
1989	Robby Unser	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	10:48.340
1992	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki	12:51.630
1993	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki twin engine	10:44.220
1994	Rod Millen	Toyota Celica AWD Turbo	10:04.060
1995	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki	7:53.000*
1996	Rod Millen	Toyota Celica	10:13.640
1997	Rod Millen	Toyota Celica	10:04.540
1998	Rod Millen	Toyota Tacoma	10:07.700
1999	Rod Millen	Toyota Tacoma	10:11.150
2000	Per Eklund	Saab	11:21.580
2001	Yutaka Awazuhara	Suzuki Vitara	11:01.770
2002	Per Eklund	Saab	11:13.200
2004	Stig Blomqvist	Ford RS200E	5:16.800*
2005	Koichi Horiuchi	Mitsubishi FTO	11:34.570
2006	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki Sport	7:38.900*
2007	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki XL7	10:01.408
2008	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki Sport Co. Ltd. XL7	10:18.250
2009	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki SX4	10:15.368
2010	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki SX4	10:11.490
2011	Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki SX4	9:51.278
2012	David Donner	Palatov D4PPS	10:04.652

• Course shortened

AAA/USAC IndyCar championship years (1946–1970)

Year	Driver
1970	Ted Foltz
1969	Mario Andretti
1968	Bobby Unser
1967	Wes Vandervoort
1966	Bobby Unser
1965	Al Unser
1964	Al Unser
1963	Bobby Unser
1962	Bobby Unser
1961	Bobby Unser
1960	Bobby Unser
1959	Bobby Unser
1958	Bobby Unser
1957	Bob Finney
1956	Bobby Unser
1955	Bob Finney
1954	Keith Andrews
1953	Louis Unser
1952	George Hammond
1951	Al Rogers
1950	Al Rogers
1949	Al Rogers
1948	Al Rogers
1947	Louis Unser
1946	Louis Unser

See also

• Race to the Sky
• Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb
• Giants Despair Hillclimb
• Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race

External links

• Official website