Pikes Peak Hill Climb contemplating expansion to two-day event

Drew Phillips — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

2012 will be the first year that the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be held on an entirely paved road, and while many who have long been involved with the event are bemoaning the loss of the gravel sections, the full tarmac course has piqued interest in the race. In fact, event organizers are considering adding a second race day for 2013. This time last year only 46 racers has expressed interest in participating in the event, but that number is already up to 170 for next year's race.

"The interest is astronomical compared to last year," says Tom Osborne, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb board chairman. "We're seeing all kinds of unique new cars." Osborne says that the race will likely have to hold a qualifying for 2012 to limit the number of entries into each class.

While you can count us in the group that will miss the gravel, we're duly excited to see what sort of new cars show up to Pikes Peak in the next several years.

Pikes Peak Hill Climb contemplating expansion to two-day event originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

First renderings of Rhys Millen's Hyundai-powered Pikes Peak challenger

Sam Abuelsamid — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Hyundai, Racing

RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Last week, we learned that Rhys Millen has been busy preparing a new unlimited class challenger to try to recapture the overall Pikes Peak Hill Climb record that his father held for over a decade. At the time, all we knew was that it would be Hyundai powered, and we assumed that it would bear at least a vague resemblance to a Genesis Coupe.

Instead, these first official renderings suggest that the Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis PM580 looks more like a Le Mans prototype than some of the cartoonish looking Suzuki or Toyota racersdriven by Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima or Rod Millen - let alone one of the more traditional open-wheel buggies that long dominated the Peak.

The PM580 uses a steel tube frame chassis wrapped in a carbon fiber skin. A turbocharged 4.1-liter Hyundai V6 producing up to 750 horsepower will put power down through an active all-wheel-drive system. The rear wing also has active trimming out on the straights to reduce drag, and it can tip up to generate additional downforce in the corners. Millen's goal is to set the first ever sub-10 minute time for the 12.42 mile "Run to the Clouds." Since you've got until June 27 until the green flag drops, why not check out the high-res gallery of renderings below and the official press release after the jump?

Gallery: Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis PM580

[Source: Hyundai]

Continue reading First renderings of Rhys Millen's Hyundai-powered Pikes Peak challenger

First renderings of Rhys Millen's Hyundai-powered Pikes Peak challenger originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments