More milestones for EVs among highlights of the 102nd Pikes Peak Hill Climb
The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb by Gran Turismo, welcomed drivers from around the globe to Pikes Peak for the 102nd running of the “Race to the Clouds” on June 24. After difficult conditions during practice and qualifying, race day brought cloudless skies and saw one record broken, while two others were established on the 12.42-mile race to the summit of “America’s mountain.”
With the results now official, here’s how the race went down in each category:
EXHIBITION
World Rally champion Dani Sordo clocked the fastest time in the Exhibition division, the Spaniard setting the benchmark Electric Modified SUV/Crossover record in his Hyundai IONIQ 5 N TA Spec (pictured above)
with a 9m30.852s. Hyundai established a second electric vehicle record for an Electric Production SUV/Crossover of 10m49.267s, with Ron Zaras behind the wheel. PPIHC veteran Randy Pobst rounded out the trio of Hyundai drivers who brought an impressive effort to Pikes Peak with his time of 9m55.551s.
Colorado’s Gardner Nichols beat the Electric Production Truck record he established in 2023. Racing his 2024 Rivian R1T (pictured, top of page)
, Nichols shaved 30 seconds off the record with his new clocking of 10m53.883s.
PIKES PEAK GT4 TROPHY BY YOKOHAMA Turbo
In the inaugural year of the new GT4 division, Laura Hayes (pictured above) bested all drivers in her Mobil 1-backed Toyota Supra GT4, taking top honors in the Turbo-designation class. Her impressive time of 10m20.487s, a personal best, makes her the fastest woman ever to race a car to the 14,115-foot summit. Only Germany’s Lucy Glöckner, who raced a motorcycle in 2019 with her jaw-dropping sub-10 minute time of 9m58.878s, has made a faster run.
PIKES PEAK GT4 TROPHY BY YOKOHAMA Normally Aspirated
Competitors in two other manufacturer-endorsed efforts, Ford and Porsche, competed in the normally aspirated class. Portugal’s Nuno Caetano came out on top in his Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport with a winning time of 10m23.034s, his best time on Pikes Peak. Robb Holland (pictured at left, above, with Caetano)
and Chris Becker, both Colorado drivers, took second and third respectively.
TIME ATTACK 1
It was all Porsche in the Time Attack 1 division. Clocking his fifth sub-10-minute run, a 9m49.429s, David Donohue (pictured above) clinched the division win. Donohue also claimed the Bergmeister Award, given by Porsche Colorado Springs and Fred Veitch, for the fastest Porsche in the entire field.
Kathryn Mead returned for her fifth year on the mountain clocking a new personal best in her Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, at 10m37.010s.
In third place, Jerome France — a rookie on Pikes Peak — brought in a time of 10m44.501s driving his 2011 Porsche 997 GT3 RS.
OPEN WHEEL
The mountain was not kind to racers in the Open Wheel division. Four contenders, including past champion and division record holder Codie Vahsholtz, were sidelined with mechanical issues on race day. Cole Powelson was forced to change vehicles just days before the race, and the move paid off as he finished fourth overall, and won the division in his 2021 Sierra Alpha (pictured above)
with a 9m33.222s, his best time ever.
Rodney O’Maley took the second-place trophy in his 2018 O’Maley Special Spec VIII. Yuri Kouznetsov finished third in his 2014 Apexocet, just four seconds behind O’Maley.
UNLIMITED
Italy’s Christian Merli clocked a 9m04.454s in his 2024 Wolf Aurobay GB08 2.0 HP (pictured above), which was the second-fastest time of the day overall and enough to win him the Unlimited division. Merli was also awarded Rookie of the Year for his impressive accomplishment on America’s Mountain.
Don Wickstrum is now the undisputed “Fastest Pastor” after beating the best time recorded by former PPIHC competitor, also a pastor, Layne Schranz. Wickstrum clocked a 9m40.512s, finishing in the top five overall.
Third place went to the UK’s Duncan Cowper who, in a nod to Wickstrum, bills himself as “The Fastest Plasterer.” This was Cowper’s second consecutive third-place result.
PIKES PEAK OPEN
France’s Romain Dumas, now a five-time “King of the Mountain,” mastered Pikes Peak 156 turns in the Ford Performance all-electric entry, a 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck (pictured above). His division title and the overall win — which came despite a nerve-wracking stall early in his run — were awarded for his run of 8m53.553s.
Claiming second in the division was Coloradan Jimmy Ford in a 2017 Ford Mustang owned by former PPIHC Stock Car division winner Joel Newcomer. Ford qualified in the Fast 15, and on race day, clocked a sub-10-minute time.
In a remarkable third-place finish, rookie Ethan Hunter of Colorado Springs — a late addition from the entry waitlist — finished in 10m47.501s in his 2013 Port City Stock Car.
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EXHIBITION
