Pikes Peak: racing uphill
What does it take to win an iconic and extreme race like the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the world's most famous uphill racing event, also known as the 'race to the clouds'? Essentially three things, as in any motorsport event, after all: a high-performance and well-prepared car, a daring and experienced driver, and tyres that are able to express the characteristics of car and driver to the full. This is the combination of factors that once again came to fruition on Sunday 23 June in Colorado, where Pirelli achieved its umpteenth success in the American hillclimb, leading the innovative Ford F-150 Lightning Super Truck, driven by Romain Dumas and equipped with P Zero tyres, to the finish line first. And had it not been for an unforeseen setback, which cost 26 seconds, the Ford prototype would not only have beaten the 61 competitors, but also set an overall record in the race, repeating the one obtained in Open Class qualifying, which was more than seven seconds faster than the previous record, set at 3:39.939. The F-150 Lightning Super Truck covered the 12.42-mile track in 8:53.553, still a remarkable time, just seven seconds under the overall record.
The result, which confirms the dominance of electric cars in this type of competition, was achieved thanks to the meticulous preparation of the car and the synergy between the technicians in charge of the Ford prototype and the Pirelli engineers. The two teams worked together on optimising the vehicle-tyre package to achieve the perfect integration that is indispensable in races with extreme altitude variations and acceleration such as Pikes Peak, whose finish line is located at an altitude of 4000 metres.
"Crucial to the result were the performance characteristics and extreme versatility of our competition P Zero tyres, appreciated by teams and drivers for their grip, reliability and driving precision, which are particularly essential with exceptionally powerful cars such as electric cars," emphasised Matteo Braga, Circuit Activity Manager, responsible for the collaboration with Ford, and Terenzio Testoni, Rally Activity Manager, in charge of Hill Climb races. "Particularly on a course with variable asphalt and challenging and constantly uphill bends, precision, traction and tyre stability are essential to keep up."
In recent years, Pirelli has enjoyed numerous successes in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. In 2019, the overall victory came with Robin Shute driving the Wolf GB08 prototype equipped with a turbocharged Honda engine. The same year the P Zeroes drove the Bentley Continental GT to victory and the record in the production car category, while in 2018 they supported the Bentley Bentayga to set the record in the SUV category. That record was then bettered in 2022 by the Lamborghini Urus Performante, again equipped with P Zero Pirelli.
