Video: How to win Pikes Peak in terrifying conditions
You know those videos of Pikes Peak International Hillclimb where the course is clear, the sun is shining, the road surface is dry? Well at the 2022 Pikes Peak event the weather did what it could to make life tricky for competitors, which is why videos like this are all the more insane. As if throwing yourself 1,438m up a mountain along a 12.42-mile, 156-corner section of road wasn’t challenging enough, imagine doing it with a mixture of sunshine, fog and snow, and dry, wet and icy tarmac? British racer Robin Shute took it all in his stride.
Driving a Wolf TCS-FC, essentially a modified Wolf GB08 with a Mountune engine, a BorgWarner turbocharger, 600PS (441kW) and Mountain-ready aero, Shute claimed his third ‘King of the Mountain’ title with a time of ten minutes and 9.525 seconds for what was the 100th running of the event.
The onboard is suitably silly. Shute sets off in fog with a road surface that’s damp in places before rocketing onto a section that’s as dry as any stretch of road in the USA. Before long, though, he’s back into fog and the higher he climbs the colder it gets, meaning there’s snow on the ground and less tyre temperature… Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Wait, no, that’s not it, it sounds terrifying. Pikes Peak is nicknamed the ‘race to the clouds’, this was a race through the clouds. Credit to you, Shute, you’re a braver man than us. Perhaps you’d be interested in trying another hillclimb, maybe one at sea level in the south coast of England? If only we knew a place…
Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a mid-morning helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: Casually drifting two Porsche 550 Spyders in the snow
Elevenses
Video
Onboard
Pikes Peak
Wolf
Mountune
Hillclimb
Robin Shute
