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/997997
IN THE WIND P36 DUNNE WINS A NAIL-BITER AT PIKES PEAK C alifornian Carlin Dunne (Spi- der Grips Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak) took victory in one of the closest races ever held for motorcycles at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, taking the win by 0.7 seconds over Cycle News's own Rennie Scaysbrook (Cycle News/KTM North America). The win marked Dunne's fourth triumph at Pikes Peak, which he described as the hard- est one yet in his storied career. "We did it," Dunne said. "Ren- nie was giving it absolutely every- thing he had, he wasn't going to take no for an answer. The Mul- tistrada 1260 Pikes Peak proved as amazing as we all hoped. It performed flawlessly, giving me everything I needed to get up the mountain. Pikes Peak is never an easy race, but the weather cooperated and we clinched the victory for Ducati." Scaysbrook was extremely disappointed not to take his first victory at Pikes Peak in this third year of trying on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. "To come that close to the win and not get it is a hard pill to swallow, but I can hold my head high as I rode as hard as I pos- sibly could," Scaysbrook said. "The track was super slippery, and I made lots of mistakes just trying to keep the bike upright. That's racing." Third went to 2017 Heavy- weight Champion and current lap record holder Chris Fillmore, an incredible result considering he was in the Middleweight class on KTM's new 790 Duke. "I'm just so happy to be up here," Fillmore said atop the mountain. "I really enjoyed riding the little 790; it's an incredible bike and to claim a new race re- cord for the Middleweight class is the icing on the cake." The practice days of Tuesday to Friday were run in good condi- tions, with Dunne and Scay- sbrook swapping fastest laps each day. Scaysbrook qualified on pole on the bottom third of the track, with Dunne fastest in the mid section and Scaysbrook again fastest across the final third of the track. Race morning was initially very cold until the sun broke through the clouds just before race start at 8 a.m. A crash for Britain's Robert Barber on the electric Buckeye Current RW-3x machine bought out the red flag and caused a 20-minute delay, at which point the clouds rolled back in and dropped the tem- peratures significantly, making the track extra slippery. Fillmore's race record was thus not challenged, Dunne's winning time of 9:59.102 some 10 seconds off what Fillmore did in 2017. CN Carlin Dunne (pictured) was pushed hard by Rennie Scaysbrook, but prevailed for his fourth Heavyweight class win. Just 0.7 of a second separated first from second.