The conditions were right. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the air wasn't too cold or too warm and the course was now a 90% ribbon of tarmac. The only variable were the heavy winds that blew up and down the mountain. Spectator's lawn chairs, easy-ups and hats constantly blew away throughout the day. But when Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima stepped up to the start line, the wind seemed to calm down a bit –as if the wind gave respect to a fellow monster.
Monster Tajima piloted his unlimited classed Suzuki SX4 across the finish line at the elevation of 14,110 feet in 9 minutes and 51 seconds. The ten minute barrier fell today at Pikes Peak and a new world record was set.
After the 10 minute wall fell from Tajima's wrath, it was up to Rhys Millen to see if he can do all 156 corners faster. Sadly, he ran into a problem with his brakes which hampered his progress. He crossed the finish line in 10 minutes and 9 seconds.
Two other unlimited cars, Paul Dallenbach and Dave Carapetyan, were unable to run due to mechanical problems.
Another world record was set today on the mountain. This time in the two-wheel drive Time Attack class. The legendary Rod Millen piloted Rhys' Formula D Hyundai Genesis to the top of the mountain in 11 minutes and 4 seconds!
Jeff Zwart, last year's 2WD Time Attack record holder, was only 3 seconds behind Rod. He crossed the line in 11 minutes and 7 seconds.
A more detailed look at Pikes Peak race day to come!
-Linhbergh
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Surely, the fact that more of the track was paved this year helped break the 10 minutes wall. Tajima himself seemed unimpressed. Don't get me wrong: Monster is the best in his category and Pikes Peak is the toughest hill climb, but replacing dirt sections by a road is killing the magic.
will there be any video fotage from the monster and the prototype?
I was unaware more the course was paved but would still like to send out our congrats to the MONSTER and Rod Millen for still being tough as nails and keeping up with the passion of hill climbing!
race was awesome. Tajima almost killed people at the halfway picnic grounds cause he was pushing it soo damn hard lol
MONSTER!
Good to see that 10-minute barrier broken before it's all tarmac next year.
Also stunned by Rod Millen and the Hyundai Genesis!
60-year old man driving a hyundai smashing a turbo-charged porsche!
something you don't see everyday haha
even though there is more pavement than in previous years, he knocked a full 10 seconds off his previous record.
impressive no matter what.
There will absolutely be video, from both Rhys and Tajima-san. And while replacing the dirt with tarmac has taken some of the magic away, I think we'll now be getting a lot more exciting/new entries in the next few years, as you can almost basically bring anything now. An F1 car? A GT2 Corvette? A twin-turboed Viper? Next year will be sweeet!
All the respect to Mr. Tajima for finally make it, but like AnPrionsaBeag said, I'm not impressed. It took him a decade to finally knock down the record, but the paved sections helped him a lot.
So much so that next year (with all the 156 turns being paved), Mr. Tajima or someone else WILL knock down more time from the current 9:51.600.
We are comparing apple and oranges, and honestly, I don't see why they're so caught up with the final time. It's totally irrelevant.
to AnPrionsaBeag,....... actually the more of the course that got paved, the slower times got. A lot of people didnt believe that 10 minutes would be broken do to the amount of pavement on the course now. Its' nice to see the 10 minute barrier fall, its just too bad that there is almost no time left for anyone to top it.
i knew he could do it!!! we gotta get a video of this run posted up here though! AND DESKTOPS!!! LOL
While a new record was set, the abundance of tarmac surely makes it a hollow achievement. All we can do is compare each year with itself rather than previous years. Well done to both Monster Tajima and Millen Snr for their class wins.
nice post.............hmmm thanks for info....
" jayzter said:
Also stunned by Rod Millen and the Hyundai Genesis!
60-year old man driving a hyundai smashing a turbo-charged porsche!
something you don't see everyday haha"
Considering the GT2RS is stock besides safety equipment and is being driven by Jeff who is about that age (I think), and the Genesis is a full fledged racecar backed by a race team with techs etc.
hey, what about the duster? how did it do?
Tajima finally did it. For those of you trying to make Monster's breaking into the 9's seem unimpressive due to the amount of tarmac on the climb...grow up, stop hating, and learn to give props when they are do. Monster smashed the course yesterday and if you have ever had the pleasure of watching this race live you know that when you see Monster Tajima attack this course the way he does... you know you are watching something truly spectacular. Congratulations MONSTER TAJIMA!!!
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@ "the bartender"... times getting slower because of the additional tarmac? Can you elaborate? Seems a little counterintuitive, no?
i cant wait to skate down this hill when its 100% paved
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VAJaZAV-gQ
Awesome run
to all the people who arent impressed with the times saying all the new asphalt should have helped more, consider this: running street tires this year made them much slower in the dirt (which there is still over two miles of) than they have ever gone on dirt tires.
also, the paved road has shrunk like 18 feet from the dirt. go look at old footage and pay attention to how wide the dirt road is going all the way to the trees, now the road is skinny with massive cement drainage ditches running down both sides. no more ditch hooking or dipping tires and significantly less room for lines.
for all of you saying that his record was not impressive consider this: The winds were 50-60mph on race day, the road surface is now 6-7ft narrower due to the tarmac, Tajima's power steering died near the top, and his engine was overheating. That makes it VERY impressive.
Constant: Jeff's GT2RS was far from stock. Also, Jeff had a race crew from Porsche North America assisting his effort. Do your research before you speak.
Times got slower because they can't run pure dirt tires. They have to run a compromise tire that doesn't work particularly well on dirt or on pavement.
Try designing a tire that cuts into dirt well, that also doesn't shred itself to bits on the pavement.
Congrats to the Monster.
also tajima seemed unimpressed? he broke the record with an overheating blown up car. it came back down the hill on a flatbed. and were you inside the tent at the awards ceremony? he was definitely happy and proud.
Great to see Rod do so well and that the 10 minute barrier finally came down, I am just looking forward to next year's event.
@ Steve:
Jeff himself in the video Speedhunters posted said while driving it that it was stock minus a few safety improvements "we even kept the air conditioning and radio". I'm not talking about race assistance, I'm talking about how much tuning/prep/design/engineering work went into the Genesis to make it a race-able car.
@Constant - Ever heard the saying "Don't believe everything you hear."?