Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1146955
THE RACE TO THE CLOUDS P86 Feature Just before I thumb the black starter button on my right bar, a hand reaches and taps me on the left shoulder. It's Carlin Dunne. We look right into each other's eyes, wish each other the best of luck, and we'd see each other on top of America's Mountain. I click first, rev the life out of the Aprilia to pump myself and the crowd up, take to the grid and dump the clutch for what will become the ride of my life. Fifteen minutes later, Carlin Dunne is dead. America's Mountain The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, held on what's long been called America's Mountain, is the most famous event of its kind anywhere in the world. Describing the race as dangerous is a gross understatement. To take on Pikes Peak is to accept the very real pos- sibility of serious injury or worse. Multiple winner Greg Tracy once told me racing Pikes Peak was akin Vale Carlin Dunne Carlin Dunne's death at this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is on par with that of David Jefferies at the 2003 Isle of Man TT. Like Dunne, Jeffer- ies was the man in his chosen domain, and his death carries with it an enormous level of grief from his family and friends, to the very top of Ducati manage- ment in Bologna, Italy. Carlin and I met at the 2016 Pikes Peak event, when he was part of the Squadra Alpina pro- gram, a mentorship for rookie rid- ers at Pikes. Gracious and calm, he was the perfect tutor to me and the other rookies that year, and I used his teachings as best I could in the following years—first to beat Chris Fillmore and second to beat him personally in 2018— both times of which I failed. Our battle in 2018 was nothing short of epic. Dunne beat me by 0.692 of a second,, the closest finish in racing history at Pikes Peak. I was distraught. I'd come so, so close. I wanted that win so bad, and to beat him in the process would have made it even sweeter. However, Carlin was gracious in victory, and admitted to me I'd pushed him harder than any- one had ever done at America's Mountain. That quote now has much more weight to it consider- ing the outcome of this year's event. Death is a part of racing and thankfully it happens at a much rarer rate than in previous genera- tions. Perhaps this is what makes the grief of passing so acute for so many. Carlin loved Pikes Peak, it represented his greatest per- sonal challenge—more so than the various Baja off -road races he would compete in and win—often riding solo. Carlin was a wonderful bloke, and we are all the worse off for his passing. Rennie discussing strategy with Crew Chief, Jeremy Toye. "Without Toye, this project would have failed," Scaysbrook admits.