The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is regarded all over the globe as one of the most famous auto events. This race is a dangerous 12.4-mile dash up one of the highest hills in the Rockies. However, the race is not very well recognised by many individuals in the United States, even some residents of Colorado Springs, the city that will host the event.
This weekend marks the 100th running of the hill climb, which finds itself in an unusual position: it is a well-known race all over the world, but in the United States, it is still considered something of an obscure curiosity. This is because in the United States, hill climbs and rally racing — in which drivers set fast time trials on dirt, gravel, and paved public roads — have never quite become popular on a widespread level.
Unfortunately for Block, an engine issue that occurred while he was participating in practise runs caused him to pull out of the race and prevent him from making his debut at Pikes Peak this weekend. However, he has promised to compete again the following year and has said that enthusiasts of racing like himself believe the hill climb to be on par with the well-known Formula One Monaco Grand Prix.
Pikes Peak is the second-longest running race in the United States, behind only the Indianapolis 500. It was established in 1916 by the businessman Spencer Penrose, and its initial purpose was to serve as a tourist attraction for the purpose of promoting Penrose’s hotel, the Broadmoor. The triumphs of Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser in the 1960s brought the event considerable notoriety; but, it did not achieve widespread recognition until the 1980s, when world rally champions learned of the event’s formidable difficulty and began competing in it.
The competition is not for those who lack courage or determination: As drivers ascend 4,725 feet to 14,115 feet and negotiate 156 curves, some of which are along sheer cliffs with no safety rails, they have the potential to achieve speeds of more than 140 miles per hour. Seven people have lost their lives throughout the course of the competition, and the organisers of the race decided to do away with the motorcycle class in 2021, only two years after one of the riders had passed away.
However, exactly because of this difficulty, international drivers and manufacturers are drawn to the sport. Since the 1980s, automobile manufacturers such as Audi, Peugeot, and Suzuki have constructed one-of-a-kind vehicles specifically for the race. As a result, international rally stars such as Nobuhiro Tajima of Japan and Sebastien Loeb of France have won the competition while simultaneously setting new records.
Although the race includes a number of different car classes, such as open-wheel and stock car divisions, the unlimited class is the one that garners the most attention. The unlimited class is comprised of exotic cars that were built specifically for the Pikes Peak race and have virtually no regulations other than those that pertain to basic safety.
The race takes place on public roads, which are often used by vacationers throughout the year in order to reach breathtaking lookout points. After it was completely paved in 2012, a greater number of cars that were not intended for rallying participated in the hill climb. Electric vehicles have grown especially popular in recent years, as they often have an advantage – unlike automobiles with combustion engines, they suffer minimal power loss at higher altitudes and can create rapid torque to accelerate swiftly out of hairpin curves.
In 2018, Romain Dumas of France established the current overall record for Pikes Peak with a time of 7 minutes 57.148 seconds while driving a completely electric Volkswagen I.D. R. This serves as an illustration of the argument that was just made. And the year before that, a Tesla took first place in the display class, which led to widespread media coverage.
The president of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Historical Association, Donald Sanborn, believes that this year’s event would certainly attract more than 5,000 spectators, and he expects that more than one quarter of those spectators might be from other countries. The increased focus on electric cars, he added, has generated increasing interest in recent years — notably from manufacturers and journalists — yet obtaining general attention in the United States remains tough.
Drivers like Block are sure that social media is the solution. Since he started rally racing in 2005, Block has amassed roughly 10 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, owing in part to viral videos, highlights of his races, and an Amazon Prime series he developed, “The Gymkhana Files.” He is of the opinion that the increased exposure over the last few years has contributed to the growing number of rally enthusiasts in the United States.
Despite the fact that he is unable to compete, Block is going to make an appearance at Pikes Peak this weekend to show off the car that he was going to drive had he not had to withdraw. The car is a customised Porsche 911 with an eye-catching and artistic livery that appears to have been designed specifically for social media. He considers his participation in the hill climb to be a multiyear endeavour, and he intends to drive the same vehicle in the competition that will take place the following year. Even while he has the belief that he will be able to assist in bringing more attention to Pikes Peak, he freely acknowledges that this endeavour is not nearly at the top of his priority list.
