Colorado Springs, CO (July 20, 2008) – On a blazingly bright Sunday morning the cars, trucks, ATVs, motorcycles and fans started to line up for their day with destiny at the 86th running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
What seemed like perfect weather turned into a nightmare for some as the heat dried the dirt and asphalt course causing the drivers and riders to recalibrate how they planned to attack the 156 turns to the summit. Some didn’t make it.
Several motorcycles and vehicles swerved off the course and kept the emergency vehicles and safety officials busy throughout the day. The most serious incident saw a bright yellow 2003 Subara WRX wagon, containing Brandye and Nathan Conley, fly off the course, mowing down a large pine tree, as they tried to navigate one of the first curves right after the starting line.
Spectators told us they jumped out of the way as the car failed to make the right turn and started heading for the left side of the road. A straight line of skid marks led right to the stump of the felled tree. Peering over the steep embankment I spotted the upright car cradled by two trees, nose pointed toward the road. An ambulance was already on the scene and emergency workers were hooking up an IV for one of the occupants. Police and agitated safety workers herded the crowd away from the car as they worked to free the Conleys.
From our new vantage point across the road we saw the stretcher come up the hill bearing Nathan Conley and when he raised his arm and waved, the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief followed by applause. Both were driven to a waiting helicopter for transport to a nearby hospital.
Hill Climb officials reported that Race Director Phil Layton later visited the Conleys at the hospital and issued this statement, “Brandye was released from ICU Tuesday after enduring over eight hours to repair her broken back. The encouraging news is that she has no paralysis.” It’s expected that after her discharge from the hospital she will be moved to a local rehab facility. “Nathan was released from the hospital on Tuesday,” according to Layton, and “will be in a back brace for the next few months.”
This put a damper on the event and brought home how dangerous this captivating location can be, but the race was finally resumed resulting in several records falling.
While current record holder, Nobuhiro Tajima, didn’t shatter the elusive 10-minute mark, as he predicted he would before the race, he turned in a respectable 10:18 time and vowed to come back next year to challenge the course again.
Before Tajima, the record had been held by Rod Millen for 13 years. This year, Rod’s son, Rhys (one of several Hollywood stunt drivers who make the annual trek to challenge Pikes Peak) set a new class record in his 2007 Pontiac Solstice of 12:31. Of course, he made a few modifications to the car including dropping in a 500 hp engine. But Rhys was a little worried about this year’s event because he’d wrecked his car the week before, tearing off the left side body panels and his crew was frantically getting the car ready until the day before the race. This didn’t leave him any time to practice during the qualifying days. Which may actually have been an advantage since he wasn’t expecting the moister road conditions that the other drivers had experienced all week. There are a couple of other things working in his favor -- his years as a rally driver and now as a Formula Drift driver give him a lot of experience on slippery surfaces.
Rhys told us that his dad, Rod, has restored the Toyota Celica he’d driven when setting his record and that we might see him return with that car next year. That would be quite a match between the former and current course record holders. Get your tickets now.
The motorcycle classes provided handlebar-to-handlebar action as these two-wheeled warriors stormed to the top of the Peak. During the week, it looked like the big Buell TT’s would be seriously outclassed by the upstart Ducatti team whose lead rider Greg Tracy handily qualified with the best time. The Buells, ridden by Brian Anderson and Joe Kopp, weren’t set up for high altitude racing. But on race day these experienced riders chased Tracy’s Ducatti hypermotard to the finish. No one could catch him and he earned a class win for Ducatti’s inaugural year at Pikes Peak, finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of Anderson and over 30 seconds ahead of Kopp. Ducatti teammate, Alexander Smith, came in with a close fourth in his first time racing at this venue. Ducatti was pleased and their spokesperson said they’d definitely be back next year with an even bigger effort.
Tracy’s brother Gary, also took home a win and set a new record in the Supermoto class riding a Yamaha yz450f. This is why his mother doesn’t want them to race against each other. She told us she likes to be able to root for both of them and see each of them come home a winner.
The day was rounded out with vintage cars, some veterans from the Carrera Panamerica race, vintage motorcycles, Quads/ATVs, Baja race style Pro Trucks a diesel powered Freighliner and a record setting class win by local driver and crowd favorite Leonard Vahsholtz, who piloted his 2005 Ford Explorer up the hill in 11:44 seconds. Some believe Vahsholtz has honed his edge by sneaking out for practice runs up the mountain all during the year. All the riders and drivers we talked to stressed “knowing the road” is the critical ingredient to winning.
If you want to see one of the last bastions of pure road racing where the spectators stand within arms length of their high-speed heroes, this is the place for you. It’s not comfy. There are no air-conditioned sky boxes, reserved seats or gourmet food. It’s all about getting up early, making the trek and being a witness to some of the greatest driving you’ll ever see.
For complet race results and other information: www.ppihc.com
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