FEATURE
2016 PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB – PART I
P110
"BETWEEN THE TREES, I
TOPPED THE TIMESHEETS
WITH A 4:14 PASS, 10
SECONDS CLEAR OF BRUNO.
FOR SOME REASON OR
OTHER, EVERYTHING
JUST WORKED."
tien Loeb Rally Evo game
on PlayStation and watching
re-runs of Greg Tracy's sub-
10 minute run in 2012 on the
Ducati Multistrada. I had a
special affiliation with Greg,
not just because I was so
impressed with his run, but
because he was chosen by
Ducati to be my race mentor
as part of the Squadra Al-
pina program. The program
was a fantastic initiative by
the former race winners to
pass on some well-earned
knowledge by race winners
Carlin Dunne, Greg and
Gary Trachy (Greg's brother,
with different spelling) and
Micky Dymond. It was a
program I would use almost
to exhaustion.
Arriving in Colorado
Springs with KTM's Tom
Moen, our first glimpse of
the mountain came during
the official tire test, held
two weeks before race day.
Nothing can prepare you
for seeing the mountain
at speed for the first time.
A feeling of woeful ill-pre-
paredness washed over me
as I blasted through Boulder
Park for the first time, the
KTM feeling totally alien,
like someone had taken
my child and corrupted it.
The magnitude of the place
smacks you in the face. It's
KTM's Tom Moen and Rennie atop the
mountain. It was so cold in the mornings
the team had to use blankets over the tire
warmers to ensure the rubber stayed hot
enough for racing.
Trying to tell yourself to push when there's snow on
either side of the road takes a bit of practice.
