View high resolution
The 2009 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is in the books. Reigning king of the hill Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima again took top honors in the unlimited class but failed to break his own record with the new Suzuki SX4 hill-climb special. In fact, he fell 14 seconds shy of his record 2007 run with a 10:15.368. He did manage to beat Marcus Gronholm and Timo Alanne in one of Ford’s Rallycross Fiestas, which only managed an 11:28.963 as it crossed the line with its right rear tire in flames.
One of two categories that did see records broken was the 2WD Time Attack for production-based cars. Here, Rhys Millen found that the confidence he gained from his practice runs earlier in the week was not misplaced. In his 17th run at Pikes Peak, Millen covered the 12.4 mile course to the 14,110-foot summit in 12 minutes, 9.397 seconds. His Hyundai Genesis Coupe crossed the line with its rear tires worn down to the steel belts, but at least they weren’t burning.
The other record set was in the Motorcycle quad 450 class, where Michael Coburn covered the course on his Honda 450 in 12 minutes, 18.858 seconds.
- Division: Unlimited
Driver Name Number Vehicle Glen Cove Sixteen Mile Finish Line
Nobuhiro Tajima 1 2009 Suzuki SX4 04:34.100 07:08.458 10:15.368
Marcus Gronholm/ Timo Alanne 3 2009 Ford Fiesta 04:50.397 07:34.078 11:28.963
Mark Rennison 200 1984 Ford RS 200 05:26.302 08:25.241 12:11.561
