Pikes Peak – Dumas finally wins!

Romain Dumas failed a few thousandths behind Rhys Millen in 2012 and had to retire due to a mechanical problem last year. The 2010 winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans décroche cette fois-ci la victoire dans la 92e édition de Pikes Peak. Au volant de sa Norma M20 Limited, le pilote tricolore a bouclé les 19,9km de la montée en 9’05 »801 à une vitesse moyenne de 127,3km/h. Le pilote officiel Porsche était bien conscient que le record de Sébastien Loeb established last year on the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak was going to be hard to beat, the nine-time world champion WRC having achieved a reference time of 8'13"878, or 52 seconds better.

But the competition was still there since the two Mitsubishi drivers finished a few seconds behind the Norma. Greg Tracy is a little over two seconds behind on the electric Evo III which regained ground in the last sector where altitude comes into play. His teammate Hiroshi Masuoka completes the top three with a time of 9'12"204.

The French are once again in the spotlight since Vincent Beltoise set the best time in the Time Attack 1 category at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS prepared by Romain Dumas' team. With a time of 10'00"744, the Frenchman ranks seventh in the general classification just ahead of the Porsche GT3 Cup of Jeff Zwart which follows a second behind.

The party was unfortunately spoiled by the fatal accident Bobby Goodin. The biker fell to his death just after crossing the finish line.

Discover the report on the 92nd edition of Pikes Peak in issue 1967 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.