How could Loeb shatter a record that never was.
He tackled Pikes Peak on an all paved surface. He has set a new road’s record. One that he should have no trouble breaking next year.
It’s all paved, as of last fall.
I lived in the Colorado Springs and drove the Peak in the fall for colors. Listen to previous racers and they comment,
it doesn’t react as when a driver could power slide and set up for the next corner.
What I asked was “how much more was paved?” In other words between the running of the event in 2012 and last weeks event, how much more of the road was paved? 1 mile, 1.3 miles, 4 miles? How much more?
The final 2.5 miles was paved before the 2012 race, meaning this year’s figures can only be compared to last year. Of course, weather conditions change every 10 minutes (or so it seems), so it’s hard to really ever compare.
Amazingly there were large patches of repaved surface already – watch the video. Too bad some drivers got a dose of heavy hail during their run – can’t imagine being on that road when it ices up…gulp!!
I remember photographing the cars in 1955 from my close up vantage point on the inside curve at Devil’s Playground.
Are spectators/photographers still allowed to be in such close proximity to the now high-speed vehicles?
Not knocking Loeb’s achievement, but it must be nice to have sooooo much money that your team can RENT PIKES PEAK FOR A DAY in advance to practice. I wonder if they actually were able to block tourists from going up that day.
Seems that if you rent the facility it is yours exclusively for the rental period – like a racetrack rental. For tourists it would be like the park was closed for the Annual Hillclimb or for weather-related safety reasons, just like many National Parks are closed for weather or fires, etc.
Hello, I’m Jean Philippe Dayraut’s assistant and i would like his pictures in High Quality please.
May it possible to have them ?
Thanks in advance,
Regards
Good for him, but the Hill climb is not the same as on dirt. Also, it is an all fwd foreign car race anymore. I remember it back when you had all types of cars both v8 and less. the records now are for asphalt, so how can you say shattered all records. It is just not the same.
I spent the day on the mountain in 1986 and photographed Bobby Unser from the OUTSIDE of the right-hander at Devil’s Playground. I returned in 1988 and shot both Peugeots (Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen) from exactly the same spot. No one wanted the angle, I had it all to myself. Yes, they allow it. Watching these drivers made me a World Rally fan. I was there this morning, the sunrise was spectacular! I wanted to meet Sebastien Loeb (which I did!) but did not want to be stuck on the mountain all day. I knew he would win but did not expect such a blowout although it did not surprise me. Loeb had dominated rally for 11 years and broke every record possible (and still holds them). No one can touch him, fully paved, all gravel and mixed. Its 2015 and his Pike’s Peak record holds! BTW, great shots, Nathan!
Great images Nathan. These are the best Pikes Peak images to be found. Thanks for getting them online so quickly, too.
Thanks Michael! It is an awesome event and I was grateful to be there to see the records get broken then way they did.
Wonderful pics – thanks for sharing, especially with us flatlanders!! 😉
Loeb, Absolutely unbelieveable. Knocking that much time off of the record is almost beyond comprehension.
John H.
How could Loeb shatter a record that never was.
He tackled Pikes Peak on an all paved surface. He has set a new road’s record. One that he should have no trouble breaking next year.
True enough. How much more was paved?
It’s all paved, as of last fall.
I lived in the Colorado Springs and drove the Peak in the fall for colors. Listen to previous racers and they comment,
it doesn’t react as when a driver could power slide and set up for the next corner.
What I asked was “how much more was paved?” In other words between the running of the event in 2012 and last weeks event, how much more of the road was paved? 1 mile, 1.3 miles, 4 miles? How much more?
The final 2.5 miles was paved before the 2012 race, meaning this year’s figures can only be compared to last year. Of course, weather conditions change every 10 minutes (or so it seems), so it’s hard to really ever compare.
Amazingly there were large patches of repaved surface already – watch the video. Too bad some drivers got a dose of heavy hail during their run – can’t imagine being on that road when it ices up…gulp!!
I remember photographing the cars in 1955 from my close up vantage point on the inside curve at Devil’s Playground.
Are spectators/photographers still allowed to be in such close proximity to the now high-speed vehicles?
Not knocking Loeb’s achievement, but it must be nice to have sooooo much money that your team can RENT PIKES PEAK FOR A DAY in advance to practice. I wonder if they actually were able to block tourists from going up that day.
Seems that if you rent the facility it is yours exclusively for the rental period – like a racetrack rental. For tourists it would be like the park was closed for the Annual Hillclimb or for weather-related safety reasons, just like many National Parks are closed for weather or fires, etc.
Hello, I’m Jean Philippe Dayraut’s assistant and i would like his pictures in High Quality please.
May it possible to have them ?
Thanks in advance,
Regards
Good for him, but the Hill climb is not the same as on dirt. Also, it is an all fwd foreign car race anymore. I remember it back when you had all types of cars both v8 and less. the records now are for asphalt, so how can you say shattered all records. It is just not the same.
I spent the day on the mountain in 1986 and photographed Bobby Unser from the OUTSIDE of the right-hander at Devil’s Playground. I returned in 1988 and shot both Peugeots (Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen) from exactly the same spot. No one wanted the angle, I had it all to myself. Yes, they allow it. Watching these drivers made me a World Rally fan. I was there this morning, the sunrise was spectacular! I wanted to meet Sebastien Loeb (which I did!) but did not want to be stuck on the mountain all day. I knew he would win but did not expect such a blowout although it did not surprise me. Loeb had dominated rally for 11 years and broke every record possible (and still holds them). No one can touch him, fully paved, all gravel and mixed. Its 2015 and his Pike’s Peak record holds! BTW, great shots, Nathan!