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Pikes Peak in a Porsche


MichaelD

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:eek: I think I am breathing again. He just bitchslapped that car up the mountain. I dont think I have ever seen that much arm movement wrestling a car around before.

 

MichaelD is right - go big screen and loud sound. Stunning video.

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I am shocked at the lack of crowd control. Hundreds of people right on the edge of the road-just seems like a matter of time before there is a tragedy and the whole thing gets canceled.

 

But, yeah, he does an incredible job of threading his way thru the human pointer cones to the top.

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I am shocked at the lack of crowd control. Hundreds of people right on the edge of the road-just seems like a matter of time before there is a tragedy and the whole thing gets canceled..

 

Its been that way since 1916. There have been four deaths in the history of the race, 3 drivers and one official.

 

Think back to the time of the Group B rally cars. The crowds were so thick there was scarcely room to get the car through.

 

Very few of the spectators on Pikes Peak were actually on the road.

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It used to be a lot more gravel, but they have been slowly paving it and the plan is to make the whole road paved

 

Here is the final edit of the above video, it's really well done

 

GT3 CLIMB on Vimeo

 

 

I have shot Pikes Peak several times back when it was a part of the US Rally championship schedule (02-05). The first time was a lot of fun, then years after I sort of dreaded it. Spectators are not that big of an issue compared to other rally type events

 

Here is a few pics

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2002-09.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2002-11.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2002-10.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2003-56.jpg

Edited by MoPho
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Why only 4 images allowed in a post?!

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2003-59.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2005-38.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2004-27.jpg

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2005-42.jpg

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Why only 4 images allowed in a post?!

 

I think that’s in place to keep page load times acceptable since the trigger to create a new page for a thread is based on number of posts, not total page size. I’m a member of another forum that has no limits and it isn't uncommon to have several posts on a page that each contain a huge amount of pictures. Every time I return to one of these threads, I have to wait for all the images to load before the page stabilizes and I can get to the new posts. Really annoying. I’m not sure that 4 images is the correct number, but a throttle has merit.

 

Great pics BTW!

 

 

-John

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As usual, stunning photos MoPho! Half are easily "screen savers"

 

And Skip, whilst folks were not IN the road the sure were lining it. And if you want to see evidence of just how far off the track a race/rally car can get, maybe MoPho will re-post the legendary footage of him running for his life when being chased down by an errant race vehicle:).

Edited by Kitcat
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As usual, stunning photos MoPho! Half are easily "screen savers"

 

And Skip, whilst folks were not IN the road the sure were lining it. And if you want to see evidence of just how far off the track a race/rally car can get, maybe MoPho will re-post the legendary footage of him running for his life when being chased down by an errant race vehicle:).

 

Any kind of road based event is never going to be able to keep the spectators completely safe, but here in the States it's nothing like what it was, and to some degree, still is in Europe

 

I took this at the Rally Catalunya in Spain

 

http://www.mjswebgallery.com/rally_2002-06/images/2004-151.jpg

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I don't understand the need to keep paving more of the road.... it kind of skews the time records when they do that. Plus it just makes them go faster. The combination of surfaces is what makes Pikes Peak to me. Perhaps it's for the locals that have to drive it regularly.

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I don't understand the need to keep paving more of the road.... it kind of skews the time records when they do that. Plus it just makes them go faster. The combination of surfaces is what makes Pikes Peak to me. Perhaps it's for the locals that have to drive it regularly.

 

 

It's for environmental reasons, the road has been eroding. The Sierra Club sued to have it paved

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What a sissy!! He'e got tarmac AND guadrails!!

 

Here's my favorite Pikes Peak run:

 

 

No tarmac and not a single guard rail. Vatinen must have balls the size of watermelons!!

 

I was lucky enough to race this event for Mitsubishi in '87, '92, '93 and part of '94 (could have used a guard rail then)

 

Seriously, I've met Jeff and he's a great guy and has been doing a great job at Pikes Peak for years.

 

If you ever get a chance to witness the Pikes Peak Hill Climb do it. It's a fantastic event, the whole town of Colorado Springs gets involved and you're there for a whole week.

 

It was definitely a high point in my racing career.

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Climb Dance is one of the all time great motoring videos. I just love the way he looks so comfortable and at one with the car.

 

John - I gather you had a little "oops moment" in 1994? What were you driving with Mitsu? Evos?

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Mike.

 

I think Ari Vatinen is the rallying equivalent of Ayrton Senna in F1. There's Ari, and then there's everyone else!

 

When I raced in 1987 it was with Mitsubishi driving the Coors Racetruck Challenge Mitsubishi pick ups. 120 non turbocharged horsepower at sea level! I think my time was something like 17 minutes. Those two long straights towards the top took a looooooooong time. The good news was since we were so slow they sent us off first, that meant we could walk back down a couple of turns to spectate. Puegeot had two cars, one for Juha Kankunen the other for Ari. I was standing up on some rocks (I'm dumb, but not dumb enough to stand in the direct line of fire!) at one of the last hairpins before the top. Juha came up first. Very good, but then Ari came up. I've never seen such commitment. He slid into the corner at a 45 degree angle Scandinavian flick (That meant the car was pointed left as he came into the right hairpin!) he was pointed out over the edge! Then he flicked the car right, all four wheels spraying dirt, he must have grabbed at least four more gears as he accelerated out of sight. It was all popping, banging and spraying. When the dust settled he was gone! I was just standing there with my mouth wide open! I knew I had just seen something special!

We walked back up to finish (no mean feat at 14,000 feet) Ari was just climbing out of his car as French TV stuck a mike in his face and was asking him about his run. His reply was "Ya.... It was OK... I made a few mistakes..it was OK" He was so cool, it was no big deal to him!

 

As far as my oops was concerned, in 1994 I was running a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 in High Performance Showroom Stock. Four wheel drive and twin turbos made it a great car for Pikes Peak. During my qualifying run (they use the bottom half of the hill) at about 46 seconds in on Jeff Zwarts Porsche video there's a right turn, probably about 80mph in the Mitsu on the old "Pennsapress" surface which is like rough tarmac with a thin layer of dirt on top I came in a little too hot, got the tail out, figured " no problem the burm will catch me" WRONG!! The left rear hit the burm and swung the car left! And I went early Christmas tree shopping! That was the biggest crash I've ever had. Bent every panel on the car. When it was done the only straight panel was the gas flap 8-) I was lucky, even with a stock seat in the car the only injury I got was I separated a couple of ribs (not too bad unless you sneeze)

 

When I raced in '87 the course was good old dusty dirt, that was the best. If they paved the whole thing I think that would be next best. The Pennsapress is the worst, it's really treacherous and unpredictable, especially if you're using a street type tire.

 

Still one of the best events in the world.

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I think Ari Vatinen is the rallying equivalent of Ayrton Senna in F1. There's Ari, and then there's everyone else!

 

 

 

I have thought the same for a long time. The historical WRC video clips out there of him are just amazing to watch.

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John,

 

In 1988, I was at the Devil's Playground above tree-line on Pikes Peak, when Ari Vatanen made his record run. The neat thing about this course from that high vantage point is that you can see about 20 or more corners below you, all at the same time.

 

Ari's car was never running straight, but instead, was constantly slaloming uphill, just like an Olympic skier would be slicing and carving downhill, throwing a tremendous, weaving rooster-tail of dust and gravel and noise all the way. it was spectacular! And no pavement, and no guardrails...

 

In the 1988 race, Walter Rorhl and Audi were not there, and it was just Ari and his teammate Juha Kankunen in the top-flight Group B cars. They held up the start for some cars for about 20 minutes or so, because there was a snow squall in mid-course. I believe Ari was already on the course at the time, but in any event the snow squall and the wet, greasy surface didn't slow him one bit; he just set a new overall record...

 

Witnessing Ari Vatanen drive an "improved" Group B rally car car at maximum speed on that extremely demanding course is one of the automotive highlights I'll remember forever. It isn't often that you can truly say, "I've just seen the best of the best, that ever was...."

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Video here.. Not nearly as dramatic/photogenic as the Porsche one..

but less than a minute 'slower' (12.30) on a 500cc class Quad yet.

More 'balls' than $ required.

Edited by danilo
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