Pikes Peak Lineup Includes More Electric Cars but Plenty of ICE

After his unfortunate off two years ago, when racing great Randy Pobst flew over a bump and off the track not far from the summit, or last year when the windshield fogged up and Pobst couldn’t navigate Tesla’s complicated 17-inch touch screen to turn on the defrost, this year the 90-plus-pro-wins Pobst has a new car and a much better understanding of Pikes Peak’s wild whoop-dee-doos and Tesla’s sub-menus.

“I’m coming back with the Unplugged Performance Tesla Model S Plaid we call Dark Helmet,” Pobst announced on his Instagram.

The Model S is the work of noted Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance, which is as close to an AMG or an M as Tesla’s likely to get. Dark Helmet’s modifications include massive aero add-ons front and rear, Ohlins TTX 4-way coilovers, Unplugged Performance full suspension links package, carbon-ceramic brakes, carbon-fiber widebody, and 330/710-19 Yokohama A005 slicks.

Pobst’s Insta posts showed a series of big-bump parking-lot testing runs at Pikes Peak International Raceway, so with that and, presumably, a tutorial on the touchscreen, Pobst has no excuses this year.

Yokohama Tire is a big supporter of Pikes Peak and returns this year headlining an entire division of Porsches. The Trophy class is made up of six Porsche Cayman GT4s from all over the country all running ADVAN A052® tires. Last year one of the PPPTrophy drivers was Loni Unser, keeping the family name alive at Pikes Peak where her uncles, granduncles, and great-grandparent drove to an unprecedented and likely never-to-be-repeated 25 overall wins. This year Loni Unser will be driving a 2023 Acura Integra. David Donohue, from another famous family, will pilot another Porsche—not a Cayman but a 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport, also riding on Yokohama A005/A006s.

What year is it? 1998? With the Integra nameplate back on the road and race track, it can be hard to tell. But that’s all part of Acura’s plan for victory at Pikes Peak, with four separate entries in this year’s race. Fourth-generation Pikes Peak racer Loni Unser will be driving the official Honda Performance Development Integra Type S, shown here, in the Exhibition division while Acura engineer Paul Hubers will try to keep up behind the wheel of an Integra 1.5T built by the Honda of America Racing Team.

Rounding out the Exhibition category for Acura, fellow Acura engineer and Pikes Peak veteran Jordan Guitar will wheel an Acura TLX Type S also built by the Honda of America Racing Team. And while the competitive focus will fall on Acura’s sedans, the brand is taking the chance to do some aerodynamic testing too, as the Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study will be driven by Honda engineer James Robinson in the Time Attack 1 class. Robinson is notorious for setting the current Hybrid fuel class record (10:01.913) in an NSX.

Radford was started by four guys who liked cars: TV personality Ant Anstead, F1 champ Jenson Button, designer Mark Stubbs, and lawyer Roger Beale. Together they bought the institution formerly known as Bondurant and then started making cars of their own, firstly the Lotus-based Radford 62-2. The race version is shown here.

“We have been busy,” the lads said last month. “And about to embark on a very busy and action-packed summer. Pikes Peak is upon us. Our Radford ‘Pikes Peak Edition’ Type 62-2 is to make its debut next month at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, during the event’s 101st running on Sunday, 25 June.”

The driver will not be one of the four.

“Our very own Jenson Button was set to climb this famous mountain, but was called to another iconic race he just could not turn down, the Le Mans 24 Hour. Lucky for us, we know Pikes Peak 2021-winning driver Tanner Foust. We can’t wait for Tanner to pilot this machine up the Pikes Peak course!”

Professional rally driver Lucy Block, widow of racing great Ken Block, will honor her late/great husband with a run up Pikes Peak in a single-seat, open-wheel electric race car called the SIERRA ECHO EV. The 300-hp ECHO is built on SIERRA Cars’ chassis and is powered by a Hypercraft electric drive system. We saw it at Electrify Expo in Long Beach last month.

“My biggest accomplishments have always been being a mother to my kids and a strong, supportive wife,” Lucy Block said. “Having the opportunity to drive to the summit for Ken at Pikes Peak is an honor. He gave so much to the action sports community. Driving Pikes Peak International Hill Climb gives us a way to carry Ken’s spirit forward and do something he was excited to do himself.”

The Blocks’ daughter, 16-year-old Lia Block, also a rally driver, will make an untimed tribute run for her father, driving the same pink Porsche 911 “Hoonipigasus” that Ken Block drove less than one year earlier. Ken Block’s 2022 attempt at a record-setting run at Pikes Peak was foiled by engine failure.

Yes, it’s a van—on the outside. But under the skin it’s pure performance. Ford has done this before, going all the way back to 1971 when it put a Transit van body on a real GT40 chassis and drivetrain. Renault did it, too. Toyota even did it. Why? Because they can! This one is all-electric, with four motors for the four wheels getting power from a 50-kWh battery. All together the system makes 1973 hp, good for a 0-62 mph time of under two seconds. The driver is Pikes Peak all-time ultimate record holder Romain Dumas. If you think you’ve seen it before, you have. The craft debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year.

While the Unsers and Millens may be better known, the Vahsholtz family deserves just as much respect on Pikes Peak. Leonard Vahsholtz raced on the Peak from 1977 to 2008 with numerous class wins. His son Clint Vahsholtz has 24 class championships and one overall win, in 2020 when he topped out in 9 minutes, 35.49 seconds in his 2013 Ford Open, setting an Open Wheel record. Now Clint’s son Codie Vahsholtz, the 2022 Open Wheel division winner, will run his dad’s 2013 Ford Open Vahsholtz Custom. This is the 46th consecutive year at least one Vahsholtz will compete in the Hill Climb. The family has a record 45 class championships. For those keeping score at home, the Unser family has 38.

One of the most exciting, oddball race cars to hit the mountain this year is from a classic French automaker by the name of Alpine. Resurrecting the infamous Alpine A110 nameplate in 2017, the brand has devised an engaging mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door performance coupe for the street. But Alpine has a long history of Hillclimb endeavors dating back to 1965, and this modern version is called the Alpine A110 Pikes Peak.

“Today, our unquenchable thirst for competition brings us to Pikes Peak, a motorsport event that has captured the imagination for decades. We look forward to being there with our partners from Signatech and Raphaël Astier, racers whose drive is matched only by their unwavering hunger for challenge. We stay humble, but we are determined to give our best on the other side of the Atlantic to write a new and unforgettable chapter in the history of Alpine through this magnificent adventure to the clouds,” said Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO.

Most of these race cars are new chassis with OEM manufacturer support and a team of factory engineers at the ready. This, of course, is a natural advantage against privateering entrants but that doesn’t mean you should count them out. In fact, looking at the specifications on this Evasive Motorsports S2000RS, it’s worth keeping an eye on the aged Honda roadster this weekend.

Driven by former Open Class winner Dai Yoshihara, the S2000RS features an F20 four-cylinder engine, stroked to 2.4 liters with a 12.5:1 high-compression Toda Racing stroker kit, a big-valve Toda cylinder head with sports camshafts, and an HKS GT6290 ball-bearing turbocharger. That makes for 650 hp, an insane number for a car with a stubby 94.5-inch wheelbase.

The original 6-speed manual transmission has been swapped out for an OS Giken OS-7 sequential unit with a Hollinger pneumatic shifter kit. And the suspension is completely overhauled with the help of KW and its three-way-adjustable dampers. With a bunch of extra downforce, a new Bosch ABS system, and a previous winner behind the wheel, Evasive Motorsports says it has high expectations for this year, too.