IN
THE
WIND
P46
PIKES PEAK 2018 IS UNDERWAY
W
e've just got back into the
office following the two-day
tire test for the 2018 Pikes Peak
International Hill Climb.
This year has been somewhat
chaotic after Road Test Editor
Rennie Scaysbrook originally
agreed to ride the Spanish
Bottpower machine in the Exhibi-
tion class that Travis Newbold
raced to the class win last year.
However, that deal fell through at
the end of April, and now Rennie
is back on the KTM 1290 Super
Duke R he raced to second
place behind Chris Fillmore in
2017.
We have switched to Dymag
carbon-fiber wheels for this year,
hoping to shed a bit of unsprung
weight to make the Super Duke a
bit more agile in the tight corners
but also help acceleration and
braking performance. Beautiful
as they are in carbon fiber, they
became a source of frustration
on day one as Rennie and the
team tried to adapt the suspen-
sion to the less rotating mass
of the Dymags. Day one across
the top of the mountain was a
disaster, but after going back to
a neutral setting at the end of the
day, we started to see some light
at the end of the tunnel for the
second day.
Rennie finished the day
second to Carlin Dunne on the
new Ducati Multistrada MTS1260
Pikes Peak, and will be looking
for more come race week, which
begins on Monday, June 18.
The 2018 race will also see
record-holder Chris Fillmore
back in action, this time on the
brand new KTM 790 Duke in the
middleweight class. Fillmore is
hoping to take the class record
but is also well in contention for
the overall win on the mini Duke,
such was his speed in the two-
day test that he finished day one
in second, and third overall on
day two.
We will have lots of updates
for you in the coming days on
this year's race at Cyclenews.
com and on our YouTube chan-
nel. CN
