After weather forced the postponement of Thursday’s practice and qualifying day for the 101st running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo, competitors found much more favorable conditions on Friday. With each group taking on their final section of the mountain, it was the last opportunity for drivers in this year’s field to make a statement on the track before Sunday’s race.
LOWER SECTION – Second overall between the Exhibition and Open Wheel groups on Wednesday, Open Wheel competitor Codie Vahsholtz put down the top qualifying time on Friday with a 3m52.816s in his first run in the Ford Open Vahsholtz Custom. Vahsholtz was the only driver in the lower section to break the four-minute barrier today, which he did on both of his runs.
That left second place to the Exhibition division leader, and it came down to a spirited battle once again between Tanner Foust’s Radford Type 62-2 and Randy Pobst’s Tesla Model S Plaid. Foust’s second run, a 4m03.677s, got it; he improved on his previous pass by more than five seconds. Pobst elected to skip the first pass and laid down a 4:04.561 on the second, but was unable to improve on that result with another shot as qualifying wrapped up.
Fourth overall and top rookie across the two divisions was Sylas Montgomery, whose MFG Road Course Sprint Car laid down a 4m05.374s in the third and final run. “Mad” Mike Whiddett and Matt Mullins continued their battle for top rookie honors in Exhibition, with Whiddett’s 4m23.867s in the second run just over three seconds clear of Mullins.
MIDDLE SECTION – In a reverse of Wednesday’s qualifying results in the lower section, it was Pikes Peak Open leader and reigning course record holder Romain Dumas posting the fastest time of all with a blistering 2m14.067s in the Ford Performance SuperVan4. Defending “King of the Mountain” Robin Shute’s Wolf TSC-FS was second overall and atop the Unlimited division with a time of 2m23.622s, while Pikes Peak Open competitor Raphael Astier was third with a 2m24.728s in the Alpine A110 GT4 Evo.
In fact, the Pikes Peak Open class took four of the overall top five on the day, with James Clay (2m28.886s) fourth and Dai Yoshihara (2m33.406s) nipping Unlimited runner-up Dan Novembre by under a tenth of a second. The top rookie time went to Duncan Cowper.
UPPER SECTION – Yet again, David Donohue and Jeff Zwart topped the Time Attack 1 charts as their group moved to the top of the mountain. Donohue’s 2:30.978 came in his third run and Zwart’s 2:44.077 came in his fourth. Third in the division came down to James Robinson and Clint Vahsholtz, with Robinson taking the honor by just over a second and a half.
Like Donohue, Hayden Bradley made it a perfect three-for-three in leading his division, the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama. Bradley’s 3:00.118 in his final run was just over a second ahead of Nuno Caetano. All six competitors in the division clocked times within a 10-second range.
The 101st running of the Race to the Clouds — the 12.42-mile, 156-turn, 4,725 ft climb to the 14,115ft summit of Colorado’s Pikes Peak — gets underway at 9:30am ET on Sunday, Live streaming is available here.