FEATURE
2017 PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB
P132
race morning, cutting any form of specta-
tor line that was in our way. The morning
of any race is a little tense, a little ner-
vous, but there's always a tangible buzz
in the air. Yet it's different at Pikes Peak.
It's like we're all just motorsport gypsies,
some with million dollar machines and
others you'd pick up for a grand off
Craigslist. We don't race each other but
the mountain. And we all want that cold
beer that's waiting for us at the Summit.
It all happened so fast. Chris' HMC fac-
tory KTM technician Uli, my tech Nate and
Tom Moen from KTM North America got
the bikes warmed up, Oscar had the Pirelli
SC1 slick tires ready and after a quick race
morning brief, we were sitting in the Ducati
Hot Grid.
Compared to last year, however, I felt
great. No nerves, no worries, I was totally
calm. A few hits of the oxygen canister
every couple of minutes, and any nerves
that would rise in my gut were quickly
quashed.
The only hint that nerves were getting
to me was I had to pee every 10 minutes.
But before I knew it, Bruno Langlois had
his helmet on and was firing up his Kawa-
saki. That meant I was next. Bruno and his
green weapon roared off into the abyss,
and it was time for me to go.
It's amazing the feeling you get when
you know things are working as they
should. Within three corners of the green
light, the Pirellis had worn in, the bike was
Cliff Racer II —
The Return to
Pikes Peak
Racing Pikes Peak is one
thing; going there for
revenge is quite another.
Cole Kirkpatrick tells the
story of this year's race
in this epic short film as
Rennie heads back to
the mountain to confront
some of his demons.
Your 2017 top
three from left:
Scaysbrook,
Fillmore and
Langlois.