All you Sebastien Loeb fans you can breathe a sigh of relief. His 2013 record for the fastest time up the 12.42 mile road of Pike’s Peak still stands at 8:13.878. Looks like Loeb is still the Secretariat of hill climbing.
This year’s overall winner is Romain Dumas at 9:05.801 with an average speed of 79.150 mph. Dumas piloted a 2013 Norma M20 RD Limited in the Unlimited Class. He has been a Porsche factory driver since 2004 and has numerous wins at Le Mans, Nurburgring, Sebring, and ALMS.
Greg Tracy came in second overall at 9:08.188 with an average speed of 78.805 mph, making him the first competitor to conquer the mountain in less than ten minutes on both two and four wheels. In 2012 he turned in a time of 9:58.262 on a Ducati. His four wheel ride this year was the electric 2014 Mitsubishi MIEV Evolution III. Obviously this is not the Mitsubishi i-MiEV that we mere mortals can buy. Tracy’s car knocks out 611 hp and constant torque. Top speed is estimated at 186 mph and 60 mph comes in 4 seconds.
What is interesting is that the electric car beat the gas powered car in the upper two sections of the course. The elevation at start is 9, 390 feet and competitors cross the finish line at 14,115 feet, for an elevation change of 4,720 feet. As anyone who follows TFL Car’s high altitude reviews knows, traditional cars lose power the higher they climb. The electric cars don’t have that problem. It will be interesting to see what happens as battery weight goes down. Will an electric car break Loeb’s record in the near future?
Jeremy Toye, riding a 2013 Kawasaki ZX-10R in the open class was the fastest motorcycle and 6th overall, finishing in 9:58.687 at an average speed of 72.158 mph. This was Toye’s first time at Pike’s Peak. He was the 2006 Isle of Man Newcomer of the Year and has multiple top 5s at Macau GP, AMA, and is a multitime WERA and WSMC Champion.
After having shattered the qualifying record for the Open Wheel class by 5 seconds, crowd favorite Paul Dallenbach was DNF in Section 3. He got stock in second gear in the middle of the course.
Check out other insider interviews with the racers of 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Emme is a driver, reviewer, and rabble rouser. She is the principle driver and trophy winner for the Mega Monkey Motorsports™ 2 seat 1600 desert racer, powered by an air-cooled VW engine and has also been on the podium in a stock bug, a trophy bug, and an ultra-4. She is one of only 17 American women to have participated in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, a 9 day all female off road rally in Morocco with no GPS. You can check her out online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and either one of her blogs.
