The Race to the Clouds

So, the grand daddy of all hill climbs is upon us. What Le Mans is to endurance racing, Daytona 500 is to Nascar, Monaco is to Formula 1, and Indy is to NHRA, Pikes Peak Int'l Hill Climb is to hill climbs. If you have the chance on Sunday, June 29th, 2014, tune in to the 92nd running of this great hill climb, on live feed. Just click here.

Everyone who's ever been any good at rallying will eventually want to run this most difficult course. The oldest current class is the Open Wheel division which has been won by the likes of: Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Little Al, Robby Unser, and these are only the Americans. The current record holder in the unlimited class is Frenchman Sebastien Loeb in a peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak. He set the record in 2013 in just 8.13.878 minutes, besting the old one by more than 90 seconds.

These are the most popular racing classes are in the car category:
- Unlimited, no form of restrictions (Pikes Peak Car)
- Open Wheel, the traditional Pikes Peak race car
- Mini Sprint, Small bore open wheeler
- Super Stock Car, traditional tube-frame stock cars
- Pro trucks

What makes this hill climb so challenging is the altitude change from the start to the finish. At the peak (14,110 ft) the partial pressure of oxygen is only about 60 % of that at sea level, so the engine needs to be tuned accordingly to run well, even though it suffers from oxygen starvation while climbing to the top. Conditions can get pretty bad too. Because of wild fires in 2012, the race was run in August and towards the end of race day, freezing rain and snow closed in on the summit, causing a race stoppage.
And as if this wasn't enough, back in the day the course was of asphalt at the bottom but as you climbed it would suddenly change to gravel, making for some incredible driving.

Map of the course, aka The Race to the Clouds. Almost 20 km long, 156 turns

Originally called "El Capitan" by Spanish explorers, the mountain was renamed Pike's Peak after explorer Zebulon Pike , Jr. The Arapaho name is heey-otoyoo (meaning long mountain).

More FulTrot coverage on Pikes Peak:
- Ari vs Pikes Peak, July 2, 2012
- Pikes Peak, July 17, 2012

Source: Pikes Peak Int'l Hill Climb, Wikipedia,
Photo credit: Google Earth (Pike National Forest)

2012 Pikes Peak Hill Climb

On August 12th next, the legendary hill climb that is Pikes Peak will be held for the 90th time, albeit a bit later than usual. The Waldo Canyon fire that forced 32,000 people from their homes in late June caused the postponement of this yearly race to the top of "World".

If you happen to be traveling in the area try to visit this event, for it is one of the great hill climbs. It starts at an elevation of 9.390 ft and goes for 12.42 miles on pavement and dirt while attacking 156 turns, handling an average 7% grade (10.5 % maximum plus grade) and finishing at 14.110 ft. For the course map, click here.

To get a general view of this hill climb, take a look at the 2 minute video below:



The grand daddy of American hill climbs lures many of the worlds top drivers, including 2010 Le Mans winner, Romain Dumas. For this year's entry list, please click here.

Categories include: open wheel, time attack, pikes peak open, super stock car, electric, exhibition, unlimited, vintage automobile division and an even longer list of motorcycle types.

Tickets are still available. For more info, click here.

Earlier this month I wrote a blog about the 1990 multiple award winning video of Ari Vatanen in a Peugeot 405 Turbo at Pikes Peak. To view this piece and watch the video, please click here.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Pikes Peak Int'l Hill Climb
Photo credit: topspeed.com

Ari vs Pikes Peak, the video

This is hands down the best rally video ever, even after some twenty years and countless technological advancements in video taking and editing. It is called "Climb Dance" and was made for Automobiles Peugeot.

Back in 1981, WRC champion Ari Vatanen in a Peugeot 405 Turbo took on Pikes Peak as if it would be his last drive. The in-car camera shows the Finish rally driver constantly sawing on the steering wheel and occasionally driving with one hand to block the glare of the setting sun. There are a couple of near misses as well.
Watch the video and you won't be disappointed.

1990 Grand Prix du Film "Festival de Chamonix"

1990 Gold Award "International Film Festival", Houston, 

1990 Silver Screen "US Industries, Film & Video Festival", Chicago,

1990 Prix Special du Jury, sixth "Festival International du Film D'aventure Val D'isere".

Thanks for reading.

Source: Wikipedia, Peugeot

The Scandinavian flick

This summer, my vacation fairy [read Prissy] has me traveling to Europe. Denmark and Sweden are on the radar scope, possibly Norway, and I am particularly looking forward to attend the Scandinavian Int'l Drag Races, in Sweden.

Furthermore, Scandinavian rally drivers are predominantly the best drivers in Europe for driving in ice and snow conditions, due to their inclement weather in winter months. Because they drive on ice and snow regularly, they were the first drivers to develop techniques to drive at speed in these slippery conditions. They even have some rally driving terms coined after them, such as:

the Scandinavian flick illustration

The Scandinavian flick (aka Finnish flick):
While approaching the turn the driver applies a slight steering input to the opposite direction of the turn, then steering into the turn, while sharply lifting off the throttle and lightly applying the brakes. The car will slide sideways facing slightly away from the turn. Then steering input is applied towards the turn and as the driver release the brake pedal while still holding down the throttle the car will slingshot itself around the desired direction. Of course, countersteering will be required to control the induced oversteer.

This driving technique was first used by drivers such as Ari Vatanen and Rauno Altonen in WRC events on non-cold weather surfaces, and as such, the name has stuck.

In living up to the proverb "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", I intend to learn this "flick" from the very best, the Scandinavian rally drivers. Intense research has led me to this group that use a Ford Escort as training vehicle. I've posted their video below:



Alright, so the rally car in the video is actually a 1:5th scale, 2.5 ft long, 16 pound wooden version of the 1970s MK1 Escort Rally Car, but the driving technique remains the same.
I chose to use this video as a tribute to all enthusiasts, whether of automobile, small scale R/C or anything else. Just do it!

Thanks for reading.

Source: Wikipedia
Video credit: Headquake 137
Photo credit: Kilometermagazine.com