P118
CN
III LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
C
arlin Dunne died while
competing at the 2019
Pikes Peak International
Hill Climb—the 97th running of
the second oldest motorsport
event in the U.S. (behind the
Indianapolis 500).
The 36-year-old from Santa
Barbara, on the Californian cen-
tral coast, was in perilous form,
which I can personally attest to,
as it was me with whom he was
competing for the King of The
Mountain crown.
Dunne's death cast a shadow
as tall as the man himself across
what was until that point an
incredible week of competition.
In the race, I had just broken the
record for the fastest time in the
history of the event, but Dunne
was on course to not just beat
that time, but to completely an-
nihilate it. Race officials put his
estimated race time in the nine
minutes 32 second bracket. Let
that sink in for a minute. That
would have been 17 seconds up
on Chris Fillmore's 2017 race
run.
He crashed less than 100 feet
from the finish line. The flag was
in eye view. The record would
have been mine for about two
minutes and 20 seconds.
I have been riding motorcycles
for 34 years and racing them for
30, and my riding during my run
of 9:44.963 was most likely the
finest of my life. Carlin bought
out the very best in me that day,
but it still wouldn't have been
enough to beat him. I'm okay
with that.
Carlin and I met during my
AN IMPECCABLE MAN
