Yahoo Autos Dumas sets new Pikes Peak Open qualifying record
The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb welcomed 64 drivers to the 12.42-mile course, kicking off racing action with the traditional early morning practice runs Tuesday. With four days of practice, competitors in six divisions will get a crack at one of three sections of the mountain each day. All competitors qualify in the lower section to determine their start order in Sunday’s race.
LOWER SECTION – With the Pikes Peak Open and Exhibition divisions on hand, the current course record holder, Romain Dumas, set a Pikes Peak Open qualifying record with a blistering 3m32.831s during his fourth qualifying run. It marked the second year in a row that Dumas and an electric Ford Performance entry — this time a 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck — would best the previous mark. Joining him in the sub-four-minute range was Jimmy Ford, who first broke the barrier on his third run and then did so twice more.
Of the Exhibition runners, multi-time WRC event winner Dani Sordo paced the class in his Hyundai IONIQ 5 N TA Spec. Sordo’s best run came in the third session for the group, as he posted a 4m01.514s. Fellow rookie Ron Zaras was second in class in the more production-based variant of the IONIQ 5 N with a 4m28.796s.
MIDDLE SECTION – Two closely matched pairs in the Open Wheel and Time Attack 1 classes kept things interesting all morning long. The Open Wheel entries of Codie Vahsholtz and Cole Powelson each posted their top times on their final runs; Vahsholtz ran a 2m33.988s in his 2013 Ford Open, while Powelson — following a late switch to the proven 2021 Sierra Alpha –ended the morning with a 2m38.839s.
Leading a Porsche lockout of the top five overall times in TA1, David Donohue, in his 2014 911 Turbo R, set a time of 2m42.285s in the second run, and the battle was on for anyone to catch him. Raymond Guerrero came closest, posting a 2m45.167s in the fourth run in his 2019 GT2 RS Clubsport.
UPPER SECTION – European hill climb champion Christian Merli set the bar high for the rest of the Unlimited competitors in the 2024 Wolf Aurobay GB08, with a 2m32.637s in his second pass up to the finish line. That was nearly five seconds faster than veteran Dan Novembre, also in a Wolf, who posted a 2m37.265s in his final run.
In the new Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama division, Nuno Caetano had the best time with a 2m47.970s which came in his seventh of eight runs. Behind him, Laura Hayes and Robb Holland were separated by less than half a second, with each posting times in the 2m51s range.
The 102nd Running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo is set for Sunday, June 23. Live timing can be found all week long at livetiming.net/ppihc.
Sessions slated for the remainder of Race Week are listed below:
Practice/Qualifying Day 2: Wednesday, June 19
Upper Section: Time Attack 1, Open Wheel
Middle Section: Pikes Peak Open, Exhibition
Lower Section (Qualifying): Unlimited, Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama
Practice/Qualifying Day 3: Thursday, June 20
Upper Section: Pikes Peak Open, Exhibition
Middle Section: Unlimited, Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama
Lower Section (Qualifying): Time Attack 1, Open Wheel
Optional Sanctioned Practice: Friday, June 21
Upper Section: Unlimited, Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama
Middle Section: Time Attack 1, Open Wheel
Lower Section: Pikes Peak Open, Exhibition
