New records were set, but not necessarily the ones we were expecting.
The 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has concluded, and the results are in. There was jubilation and heartache, records set, and expectations not lived up to. The weather played a role, and then it didn't. Basically, Pikes Peak was doing Pikes Peak things.
At a glance, a new production car record was set, Randy Pobst piloted an electric vehicle into the top 10, and the BMW XM underwent some unexpected but warmly welcomed cosmetic surgery thanks to a disagreement with a rock face. We'll discuss some more highlights from the 101st running of the Race to the Clouds in a moment, but first, let's see the top performers in each class. We're skipping the results of the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama because this is only contended by variants of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
Next year, the PPIHC is planning to have a full GT4 class, and it's reported that at least four automakers are interested in competing.
Class Winners
Starting with the slowest class and working our way backward, we'll discuss the fastest in each competitive division. In the Exhibition class, Tanner Foust took the Radford 62-2 Pikes Peak to the top of the standings with a time of 9:37.326. That's a scintillating time that beat the Alpine entry, but just as impressive is that second-placed Exhibition contender Randy Pobst was not far behind in his modified Unplugged Performance Tesla Model S Plaid. He managed a time of 9:54.901, a massive increase over last year's 11:24.604.
In the Open Wheel class, Codie Vahsholtz drove a 2013 Ford Open Vahsholtz Custom to the peak in 9:19.192. Not only is that super quick for any car, but it was some 35 seconds quicker than the next fastest open-wheeler. Moreover, it's knocking on the door of Time Attack 1 results.
The Time Attack 1 class was owned by David Donahue, who drove a 2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport to the summit in 9:18.053. Hereafter, the times take a serious tumble, but not as serious as we were hoping.
After the Freshly-updated Ford SuperVan 4.2 set a new qualifying record, we fully expected the all-electric race car (masquerading as a van) to snatch the outright record from the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak. For the record, the best time ever achieved up the hill was in 2018, when Volkswagen's electric prototype set a time of 7:57.148. Sadly, the same driver, Romain Dumas, was unable to beat himself behind the wheel of the Ford and only managed a time of 8:47.682. Still, that was the quickest time in the Pikes Peak Open class.
Finally, the Unlimited class saw Robin Schute set the fastest time of the event in his 2018 Wolf TSC-FS with a time of 8:40.080. Remarkably, he was supposed to drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 up the hill, but the car wasn't ready. Luckily, he secured an alternate drive just a couple of days before the event.
New Records
We are still awaiting official confirmation of the records set on the day, but according to the official time sheets, we should have at least three new records to celebrate. The quickest diesel-powered vehicle up the hill this year was a 2023 Radical SR Diesel driven by Gregoire Blachon in 10:25.071, almost a minute quicker than the previous record set in 2020 by Scott Birdsall. Unfortunately for Birdsall, his 1949 Ford F1 failed to complete the course in time, but based on official split times, he would have been off the pace anyhow. Hopefully, he'll be back to attempt retaking the Diesel record.
The Electric Production Truck/Van division is new for this year, and as the only entrant, the Rivian R1T was the quickest up the hill (11:23.983).
Finally, we have the Production Car record, which was formerly held by Rhys Millen in the Bentley Continental GT. His time in the British grand tourer was 10:18.488. In a 2023 BMW M8, the same driver reset the bar to 10:12.024. Neatly done, sir.
Notable Mentions
There were quite a few cool cars at this year's running, even if they weren't necessarily the quickest.
We saw Mad Mike Whiddett take his four-rotor Mazda 3 up, singing its 1,400-hp song to a time of 10:34.980, bagging 5th in the Exhibition class. Lucy Block rounded out the top 10 in the Unlimited class with a time of 11:25.315. She was driving a 2024 Sierra Echo open-wheeler while her daughter, Lia, relaxedly took the famous Hoonipigasus up. The 16-year-old's run was not timed but was a tribute to her dad, the late Ken Block.
Acura added a load of aero to the NSX, and it helped the car go more than a minute quicker than last year's stock entrant but roughly 10 seconds slower than the same car's Production Hybrid record of 10:01.913, set in 2020.
And finally, we feel compelled to circle back to the fact that the BMW XM Label Red, which should have been vying for the Production SUV/Crossover record (currently held by the Bentley Bentayga), crashed out. Hey BMW, maybe making an SUV your standalone M car was not so inspired an idea, huh?
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Keyword: Records Tumble At 101st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb