“Monster” Tajima Smashes Unsmashable 10-Minute Barrier in 2011 Pikes Peak Hillclimb

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The Suzuki SX4 is a fine little compact, but it isn't often we'd use its name in the same sentence as the word "monster." Today we can use it with that word twice, because one monster of an SX4 just broke a barrier considered to be unbreakable—and it did so with a man known simply as "Monster" at the wheel. Monster’s mother knows him as Nobuhiro Tajima, and over the weekend, he became the first driver to ever pilot a car to the top of Pikes Peak in under ten minutes.

Mr. Monster and the mountain have been battling for a very long time. He first raced in the Annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1988, saw his first Unlimited division win in 1993, and had won each of the previous five years leading up to the 2011 running. His 2007 effort, completed in 10:01.41 seconds, set a world record. And yet he still wasn't satisfied, sitting just barely on the wrong side of the ten minute mark.

Tajima didn't give up. He kept at it and, knowing that this year's course would include more smooth pavement and less gravel than any year before, he saw his chance for the record. Engineers on his team spent long hours in a wind tunnel testing and making tweaks, adding downforce and removing drag.

Sunday, June 26 brought an end to that development and Monster Tajima found himself starting up 14.42 miles of road yet again, his turbocharged 910-horsepower 3.1-liter V-6 growling to intimidate the 156 turns ahead. Perhaps one or two did straighten themselves out ever so slightly, because nine minutes and 51.58 seconds later, the Suzuki crossed the finish line and entered the record books as a man's multi-decade mission came to an end. The nearest competitor, a Hyundai race car piloted by Rhys Millen, clocked in at 10:09:24—almost 20 seconds slower. In motorsports' ultimate game of King of the Mountain, the rights to the peak are as undisputed as ever.  And perhaps with this barrier passed, even the Monster himself will finally be content.

Stuart Fowle 28 Jun, 2011

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Source: http://blog.caranddriver.com/monster-tajima-smashes-unsmashable-10-minute-barrier-in-2011-pikes-peak-hillclimb/
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