The Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado is the second-oldest continuous motorsports event in the United States, after the race at Indy. But having just dropped its 89th checkered flag, Pikes Peak is about to change radically. After 11 years under construction, the $20 million paving of the 12.4-mile course up the 14,100-foot mountain is nearly complete. Only about two miles of dirt remains, and the date of the 90th Hillclimb in 2012 is being moved to later in the summer to allow the paving crews to finish their work.
After that, the road up Pikes will resemble a slightly shorter, somewhat tighter, open-ended version of the Nürburgring. Anything will be possible, including sending up F1 cars and Le Mans prototypes in a manufactured-sponsored all-out war for Pikes Peak supremacy. The race already has an electric-car demonstration class: The first car waved off the line this year was a Nissan Leaf, making it up in a respectable 14:33.429, which wasn't even the slowest time.
No doubt sensing the new opportunities, executives from Audi, Renault, BMW, and Porsche were spied this year sniffing around the pits and the pre-race Fan Fest in downtown Colorado Springs. Audi of America PR director Jeff Kuhlman, bumped into at Fan Fest, said there's nothing to announce but the company is considering running "some type of historic car" next year. PR men are not above creating smoke screens. Sending Michele Mouton's winning 1985 Quattro Sport S1 up the hill seems less likely than running something that could actually bag a record, like this year's Le Mans–winning Audi R18. Kuhlman just shrugged, but Audi is definitely interested in making a bigger splash in U.S. motorsports.
At a dinner with automotive journalists recently, Audi of America president Johan de Nysschen asked the table point-blank how the company can influence potential buyers through racing in the States. In retrospect, I wish I had thought to say "Pikes Peak," instead of what I did say, which was, "Forget racing and concentrate on golf."
Veteran Pikes Peaker Jeff Zwart, who finished Pikes second in class this year with an 11:07.869 in a Porsche 911 GT2 that he drove out from Los Angeles, figures only one issue prevents Audi from running the R18. "The turning radius would have to be reduced," to get through the course's many hairpins, he says.
The hillclimb could also become a round in a national or international series, as it was when USAC made it a points-earning event in the 1960s. Zwart says he's had discussions with American Le Mans Series president and CEO Scott Atherton about adding a Pikes round to the nine-race series. Once heavily contested by factory-supported specials in the 1980s—and then largely abandoned to the shadetree amateurs—Pikes Peak may once again return to the A-list of global motorsports events. Press coverage will increase and crowds will swell. The two-hour traffic jam off the mountain at the end of this year's event may soon be remembered fondly for its relative expediency.
Old timers like New Zealand rally samurai Rod Millen, who has set the record five times and who will forever be the fastest driver on the all-dirt Pikes Peak (10:04.06 in 1994 in a Toyota Celica All-Trac turbo), says the mountain just won't be the same. "It was a wonderful era. Every corner was a challenge. If it rained overnight, as it often did, you would have an all-new course from the day before," he said. Rod made a comeback this year in son Rhys's Hyundai Genesis Coupe drift car, winning the fast 2WD Time Attack class with an 11:04.902. After retiring once before in 2001, Rod said that this time he is retiring for good.
Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, the self-proclaimed "King of the Mountain" who set a new world record for fastest ascent up the course in his Suzuki SX4 Pikes Peak Special, isn't retiring yet, but his car is. Despite losing power steering, pegging the temperature needles, and nearly blowing up the Suzuki's 910-hp, twin-turbo 3.1-liter Grand Vitara–based V-6, Tajima finally demolished the 10-minute barrier with a time of 9:51.278. He is reportedly constructing a new car that will be optimized for pavement.
Rhys Millen was thought to be Monster's only challenger, but fading brakes on his Hyundai-powered PM580 prototype over the last four miles of the course dropped him into a distant second place with a time of 10:09.242. One look at the low, curvy Red Bull–sponsored PM580, and it’s clear Rhys is ready for the new era of asphalt. With its closed and flowing carbon-fiber bodywork, it looks a little bit like the Audi R18 and may represent the future of Pikes Peak.
Being a spectator at Pikes Peak takes commitment. The single road up is narrow and has few safe areas for parking. The best spots are often taken days before by hard-core fans in campers. Because the road closes well before the first car is flagged off at 9:00 A.M., it's a predawn wake-up call even if you're coming from nearby Colorado Springs.
Once the road goes hot, you're stuck wherever you are. This year, with its numerous red flags for crashes, mechanical failures, and cases of altitude sickness among course workers, the event ran more than seven hours.
The 14,100-foot summit with its cafe and gift shop is too small to accommodate many cars, so access is restricted to competitors, press, and the few who manage to get tickets on the cog railway from Manitou Springs. The first thing you notice when stepping off a bus at the summit is that there is no breathable air. At least, your body doesn't think so, because the smallest act—standing up, sitting down, unzipping your fly, picking the yogurt pretzels out of a bag of trail mix—causes your lungs to collapse, your lips to turn blue, and the horizon to weeble-wobble.
The second thing you notice is this: though it may have been a beautiful, balmy morning at 5:00 A.M. when you boarded the bus in summertime-steamy Colorado Springs, by the time you crawl through race traffic to reach the summit some two and a half hours later, the temperature is 37 degrees and the wind is blowing at 39 mph.
Despite the obstacles and the changes, Pikes will always be unique, which is why it's likely to grab world attention once again when the factories return in force.
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Source: http://blog.caranddriver.com/2011-pikes-peak-recap-after-89-years-change-comes-again-to-the-mountain/
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