2022 marks the 100th year running for the annual Pikes Peak International Hill climb. The run list dropped at the beginning of February, and it was initially not too interesting. Not until I read further down would I discover that Rod Millen would be running his race winning Toyota 503E powered Tacoma hillclimb monster, and at that moment, I decided I needed to see this beast of a machine on the mountain.
Me and 3 of my good friends then flew out to Denver from Orange County on June 23rd only to return 4 days later. Exploring Colorado Springs was fun, we went to Garden of the Gods and I had my first Waffle House dining experience. Porsche Colorado springs had some amazing cars in while race week was in full swing, you could peak through the back windows and see the Brumos collection GT2RS Clubsport getting wrenched on in the service center. However, perhaps the most interesting car there was a Porsche 356 on tank tracks and ski's.
RACE DAY
1:15 AM: The alarm marking the end of my short nap that began the night before signaled the start of race day for me and my friends. Due to traffic on the mountain, we ended up getting to our spot on Devils Playground at around 3:30 in the morning, where an attempt at a nap was made but was ultimately futile. The average temperature for the morning could not have been over 42 degrees Fahrenheit, visibility was crap and to cap it off, it was occasionally sprinkling on the mountain. What perfect time for a race up a narrow 2 lane road! 7:30AM marked the start of the race as well as my very first time seeing a car go up the mountain. To my shock, a patina'd out Ford F100 with a massive wing and a huge turbo strapped to a diesel engine roared by, rolling coal as it moved gracefully up to the second hairpin at the Devils Playground. Time between cars was roughly 5-7 minutes depending on the pace of the driver, which was usually airing on the side of caution considering you could not see 30 yards in front of you. Porsche had a very strong presence at the Hill climb this year, with multiple twin-turbo cars flying up the hill, such as Jeff Zwart in the Ingram collection's 935/19 based on the GT2RS, or Emotion engineering's twin-turbo GT3R hill climb build piloted by Rhys Millen, in addition to a large assortment of GT4 Clubsport cars. However, I cannot deny that the absolute highlight of this entire trip was witnessing Rod Millen manhandle his Tacoma through that section of road. I could hear the turbo chirping for close to 5 minutes before it got to us, and when it did, it was glorious.
The racing ended at about 3:30, it took about an hour or so to get down the mountain, where a very rewarding meal from Panera both rejuvenated my soul and shot me into a food coma. I have to say, after being awake for 21 hours, eating cold cut sandwiches on a mountain shrouded in clouds and covered in snow, piled into our rental Subaru Outback with the heat on blast for most of the time, I would absolutely do it again. By the end of the race the cloud cover cleared and the beauty the mountain provided was absolutely gobsmacking. Hopefully next year, when I return, I will get to experience the race to the clouds without being IN the clouds.
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