Pikes Peak 2026 – Romain Dumas, King of the Mountain

He remains, more than ever, the king of the mountain. A year after being dethroned by Italian Simone Faggioli in a race shortened to its original length due to weather, Romain Dumas won Pikes Peak 2026 on Sunday. The driver from Alès, at the wheel of a refined and even more efficient electric Ford Super Mustang Mach-E, was the fastest to climb the 19,99 km ascent and some 156 turns in 8 minutes and 18.202 seconds. This is the second-best time achieved by the Gard native in an electric prototype, 21 seconds off the record set in 2018 with the Volkswagen ID.R, and the second victory for the Dumas-Ford partnership after their triumph in 2024 with the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck.

This 104th edition was contested for the top spots. Robin Shute climbed to 2nd place (+11.295 seconds) with a vehicle that reflects the permissive spirit of the Colorado event. On a Tatuus Formula 4 chassis, the Englishman added wide wings and a 2.3-liter engine derived from the BMW S1000 RR motorcycle, producing 850 horsepower for a featherweight 600 kg! This is a first-rate performance for a combustion engine car (a record for a rear-wheel-drive car), especially since at the summit, at 4,302 meters, the thin air causes a significant loss of engine power. Last year's winner, Simone Faggioli, had to settle for the last step of the podium due to technical issues with his Nova Proto NP01 ATM Bardahl. "In the first two sections, the machine wasn't working at all, and it was only in the final stretch that it started to improve.", declared the Italian. We're going to analyze what happened – probably a problem with the electrical unit – but I really want to thank all the guys on the team and the technical staff for the tremendous work they've done. We had what it took to perform well.

The Manager of rally for Pirelli, Terenzio Testoni was responsible for supplying tires to Dumas' Ford and Faggioli's Nova. And the challenge was great! “This year, we experienced a temperature difference ranging from approximately 20 degrees Celsius on the asphalt at the start to sub-zero temperatures at the summit – an exceptional temperature difference concentrated in less than twenty kilometers. In such conditions, consistent performance is absolutely crucial.”

Finally, among the other French competitors, Valentin Simonet finished 13th^e with the Renault RS01 (3^e (Open class), and Philippe Marion 15^e of the Open class in a Porsche 911 GT2. Bruce Jouanny (Ligier JS2R) did not reach the finish line.

ALSO READ > Experience the 24 Hours of Spa from the inside with Spark and AUTOhebdo

Pikes Peak 2026
The classification of the race

1) 🇫🇷 Romain Dumas — Ford Super Mustang Mach-E (EV) — 8:18.202

2) 🇬🇧 Robin Shute — Nova Proto NP01 — +11.295

3) 🇮🇹 Simone Faggioli — Nova Proto NP01 ATM Bardahl — +14.795

4) 🇮🇹 Diego Degasperi — Nova Proto NP01 Bardahl — +39.186

5) 🇺🇸 Dan November — Wolf GB08 TSC Special — +43.487

6) 🇺🇸 Billy Johnson-R — Porsche GT3 Turbo Cup – LUCY — +54.521

7) 🇺🇸 Codie Vahsholtz — Ford Open — +58.142

8) 🇺🇸 Jimmy Ford — Ford Mustang — +1:05.680

9) 🇺🇸 JR Hildebrand — Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X — +1:11.902

10) 🇺🇸 Mirl Swan — Wolf 016 Formula Atlantic — +1:12.118