VIDEO: Loeb Smashed Pikes Peak Record

Quelle surprise... the world's greatest rally driver ever has blitzed the 2013 Pikes Peak event, by an unreal margin – setting a new course record of 8min 13.878sec for the 12.4-mile course, in his epic 900bhp Peugeot 208 T16... some 95 seconds faster than the existing record! It seems highly unlikely anyone will ever get up the 'race to the clouds' faster. There's only one Sebastian Loeb eh?! What a legend! The superb Colorado course, rising overs 5000 feet and with just shy of 160 testing corners was no real challenge for superman Loeb, who made it look easy in his epic T16 and brought back fond memories of Ari Vatanen's legendary cloud dance run in the 405 T16. The amazing 208 T16 was created using many components from the 908 Le Mans car, was created in under four months and uses a 900bhp mid-mounted 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6, a six-speed four-wheel-drive transaxle and a state of the art steel spaceframe chassis with a torsion-bar double wishbone suspension set up and trick front and rear and carbon fibre racing brakes and aero pack. The ballistic power-to-weight and grip netted 0-62mph in 1.8 seconds and 0-150mph time in just 7.0 sec! Peugeot said: After months of anticipation, Sébastien Loeb has shattered the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record with a breath-taking time of 8m13.878s in the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak. The Frenchman negotiated the 12.42 miles and 156 corners of the mountain at an average speed of 87.471mph. Loeb’s time blitzed the previous best of 9m46.164s, set by Rhys Millen last year, with the top three finishers all beating the 2012 record. “For me, this was the race of the year,” said Loeb at the finish, at 4,300 metres high in the Rocky Mountains. “At the beginning of my run there was a bit of pressure for sure because I knew there was so much work and investment from Peugeot and all the partners. Now, after all the practice, it was just down to me and I had to perform.” Loeb started first of the Unlimited class cars, unleashing his 875-horsepower car onto the mountain this morning after all the motorcycle competitors had passed through. However there were a number of delays before he started, which meant that the team began to worry about bad weather: a common feature of Pikes Peak at high altitude. “When I was on the start line waiting to go, I could actually see the clouds closing in at the top of the mountain,” said Loeb. “I remember thinking that if we didn’t get going soon, it would be really difficult.” As it was, Loeb blasted his 208 T16 Pikes Peak through the clouds in a time that was even quicker than Peugeot Sport’s computer had thought was possible. The ideal theoretical time – calculated using data from Loeb’s practice runs up the Colorado mountain – was 8m15s. The nine-times World Rally Champion somehow managed to shave two seconds off that. “I’m really happy as that was a very good run in the end,” said Loeb. “I really didn’t expect anything better than 8m15s, so to do 8m13s was fantastic. Before the start I didn’t really know if I should push absolutely to the maximum or if I should just push to a comfortable pace, in order to make sure of the victory. In the end, I decided to push to the limit.” The result was spectacular, with Loeb now joining the pantheon of Pikes Peak winners; nearly one year to the day after he first conquered America by winning the rally cross finale of the X-Games on 1st July, 2012. Despite his flat-out approach, the multiple champion didn’t even report any major moments, while his Peugeot has been completely reliable throughout the entire month it has been in America. “It was good, all under control from start to finish,” he concluded. “Apart from the potential of the weather turning bad, we didn’t have any worrying moments.” The scenes of success at Peugeot were reminiscent of 1988, when former World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen broke the Pikes Peak record for the French manufacturer exactly 25 years ago, with the 405 T16 Pikes Peak. Back then the benchmark was 10m47.220s on gravel roads – a sign of just how rapidly technology has evolved. In second place on the 91st ‘Race to the Sky’ this year was former record-holder Rhys Millen in his all-new Hyundai RMR PM580-T, 49 seconds behind Loeb with a time of 9m02.192s. Nonetheless, the New Zealander beat his own record – and he says that he’s determined to break the nine-minute barrier next year. “I think it’s fair to say that we were racing for second place today,” said Millen. “Romain Dumas and I had been really close throughout practice, but then I heard that his engine had unfortunately broken at the start. I knew I wasn’t going to beat Sebastien’s time, so I just decided to take no risks. You have to hand it to Loeb and Peugeot Sport: they were unbeatable. That time they set was simply incredible. When will it be beaten? It might never be…” For Loeb and Peugeot Sport, it was the end to a remarkable one-shot adventure that had taken them from early tests of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak at Mont Ventoux in France to the untrammelled mountains of Colorado: officially America’s highest state. Pikes Peak is a legend: the second-oldest car race in America after the Indy 500. And now Loeb – the new King of the Peak – and the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak car are part of American history. Bravo to Peugeot for building such an amazing racer in such a short time, setting their stall out and surpassing even their expectations – making history. And a special thanks has to go to fellow French firm, Citroen for letting him do it! Sebastian Loeb, we salute you – again! Now, please come to Wales Rally GB!!!

VIDEO: Pat Doran Pikes Peak Off 2013

Pat Doran's 925bhp RS200 Pikes Peak proves to be a bit of a handful in qualification yesterday. Ouch! Thank God it happened in the trees, not up the top. The cars are Q-U-I-C-K this year. SO quick!

NEWS: Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak Test

Peugeot has let their 875bhp 208 T16 Pikes Peak beast loose on a full-chat altitude test – in preparation for the Colorado "ascent to the clouds" hill climb June 24-30th.
The gruelling test took place at Le Ventoux – an ultra-demanding and famous stage of the Tour de France.
"You’ve got a much bigger chance of seeing me drive to the top in a car than on a bike," quipped the reigning world rally champion Sébastien Loeb before the test, however.
Peugeot say: "You only need to drive a couple of kilometres up the road which leads from the test team’s basecamp to the summit to understand why this barren mountain has become such a huge legend among cycle racing fans. The steep slope and numerous turns do not permit the slightest respite as it strikes out towards the summit. The reward is a stunning panoramic view of France’s Provence region, while the vegetation becomes much sparser and the landscape more lunar as you approach the barren peak at an altitude of 1,909 metres.
"The last six kilometres – which we at Peugeot Sport used for the test – are simply breathtaking! It’s little wonder that ‘Le Ventoux’ is seen as one of the Tour de France’s most prestigious stages, and it comes as no surprise, either, to learn that it provided the backdrop to one of the most famous hill climb events in the pioneering days of the automobile industry. In 1902, even before the Pikes Peak Hill Climb was organised for the first time, the most advanced vehicles of the day would compete here, and the venue is perfectly suited as the location for Peugeot Sport’s last run ahead of next month’s showdown in North America."
"This is an important run because Pikes Peak is very different from a nice, smooth race track," noted Sébastien Loeb. "It is vital for us to evaluate the car on a terrain that is more like what we will find in the States. This road will give us a reasonably accurate idea..."
The world champion was visibly pleased to be back in the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak car, now sporting its aggressive livery: "It’s not the power that impresses me anymore; I’ve got used to it," he reported. "It’s the speed at which the corners leap out at you which is more striking than round a circuit where there’s always a ‘100-metre’ board to show you where to brake. Here, you can be in fifth or sixth gear and you suddenly see mountainside ahead of you; you have to work out for yourself where you need to brake…"
With a power output of 875 horsepower, this car is no ordinary 208. "The steering is still very, very responsive, so it can be a little hairy keeping your foot to the floor though the fast portions," observed the French driver. "On wide slicks like this and at the sort of speeds I am getting up to, the slightest imperfection in the road surface really unsettles the car."

A switch to softer Michelin tyres and revised calibration for the steering helped to improve the situation.
Peugeot Sport’s Jean-Christophe Pailler, who is in charge of the project’s technical aspects, saw the open-air session as a dress rehearsal both for the team and the 208 T16 Pikes Peak car: "The mechanics and engineers need to familiarise themselves with working on the car in real-life conditions. They are getting an increasingly better grasp of how it responds to set-up changes and are analysing the tiniest detail or piece of feedback from Seb to refine its settings. It’s a learning process for everyone…"
The visit to Mont Ventoux also provided the team with the possibility of running at altitude. "Okay, the altitude isn’t as extreme here as it is at Pikes Peak which reaches 4,301 metres, but it’s a valuable intermediate step," added Jean-Christophe. "It allows us to see the differences in the way the engine functions, although we hope to suffer less from altitude-induced power-loss than our rivals because of the turbochargers we have chosen."
The next step is the journey to Colorado for more testing on the course which will only be available on a section-by-section basis on 8th, 9th, 14th, 15th and 16th June. After this final preparatory phase, the event will run in earnest from 24th June until 30th June, which is when Sébastien Loeb and the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak car will at last get their chance to reach for the clouds for real!

Prior preparation prevent poor performance! We expect nothing less than something truly spectacular at Pikes Peak with this combination of Mr Loeb, Peugeot Sport & 875bhp, right? 

See more images on our Facebook page.

NEWS: Sebastian Loeb Declares 875bhp Peugeot 208 T16 Pike Peaker "a rocket!"

Nine-times WRC rallying God and French dude, Sébastien Loeb’s has finally got his first impressions of the 875bhp Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak car, describing it as "a rocket," and saying he's never driven anything that accelerates so fast and it has the stopping power like a Formula 1 single-seater, more than in a rally car! Sébastien Loeb is all set to drive 'the race to the clouds' in Colorado on 30th June.
When Sébastien Loeb’s helicopter landed alongside the high security track at La Ferté-Vidame, in North Western France, the rally star believed he was in for a routine test session. After just a handful of laps in the car, he realised that this was something different however…
He said: "The 208 T16 Pikes Peak is a rocket! It’s so powerful! The first time you drive it, each gear change practically stuns you. The shifts are really brutal, and it takes a little time to anticipate the sudden jarring. You get used to it, but it was quite disorienting to begin with."
The Frenchman may have seen it all on world rallying’s most challenging stages, but his words were far from blasé after his first taste of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak.
"I’ve never driven anything that accelerates so fast!" he remarked. "In the lower gears, a Formula 1 car doesn’t deliver maximum power. With the Peugeot, though, it’s bang, bang, bang as you move up the box from standstill. Due to its four-wheel drive transmission and turbocharged engine, its pull-away performance is phenomenal! You find yourself in sixth gear at 150mph in no time at all!"
Indeed, with a 0-62mph (100kph) time of 1.8s, the 208 T16 Pikes Peak would leave any F1 car standing…
It is not only the gearbox which made a big impression on rallying’s superstar.
"Due to its aerodynamic downforce and wide tyres, its braking is amazing, too." he exclaimed. "The 208 package is a combination of the best of several worlds: it’s got the downforce of a Formula 1 car, the wide tyres of an endurance racing prototype and a differential, like a WRC car…" In short, it’s a cocktail that gives you wings…
As the familiarisation process continued, Sébastien Loeb was clearly won over by the unique experience: "I have driven many types of car in my career, but this is very, very different. Its acceleration, performance and stopping power are more like those of a Formula 1 single-seater than a rally car. Its handling is fantastic as well; there’s so much grip, and the all-wheel drive transmission makes it very stable. It’s got huge potential."
Like any thoroughbred, however, the 208 T16 Pikes Peak will need to be broken in, since Sébastien Loeb has no intention of allowing the car to be the one in control. On the contrary; with nine World Rally titles to his name, he approaches the mission with his trademark calm: "This track isn’t very wide and there aren’t any run-offs, so I’m taking things one step at a time. I don’t know what the car’s limits are yet but it was important to do this run on a circuit today. Now we have a better idea of where we stand and a better overview of the car’s potential. After that, the challenge will be to try to feel totally at one with the car on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb itself. That will take some work…"
When the big day comes to race to the Colorado summit at an altitude of 4,301 metres, Sébastien Loeb will need to be capable of mastering every buck and kick of the thoroughbred if he is to steer clear of the many pitfalls that await him along the giddy 20-kilometre course. And that will require perfect osmosis between the French champion and his extremely powerful steed.
To give this fusion every chance of happening, Peugeot Sport has scheduled a busy test programme at circuits, on roads and at altitude as the next phase of this extraordinary project which the multiple World Rally Champion finds particularly stimulating: "I really can’t wait to get to drive the 208 T16 Pikes Peak in Colorado!"
And we can not wait to see what the world's greatest rally driver can do at Pikes Peak, can you?
See a load of cool images of the test here.

VIDEO: "Monster" Tajima @ Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, EV-style

The wonderful, weird-sounding, wacky-fast world of EV motorsport is here to stay, so get used to it folks... and here's something that should help make it sexy – GoPro superhero Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima aiming to beat his record of 9:51.278 in his all electric hill climb car in the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs. This is his qualifying run from Friday on the 12-mile crazy hill climb course of all hill climb courses. Ok, it's not Walter Rohrl in a turbocharged, flame-spitting T16, but hey... life moves on and this is still scary, skilled stuff...

The video was shot on the new HD HERO2® camera from ‪http://GoPro.com. Check out pals at DogCam for offers: http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/

VIDEO: Pikes Peak Lexus ISF CCS-R - First Test Run

It's Pikes Peak this weekend in Colorado Springs, and Lexus will be competing for the very first time in the all-new, 416bhp IS F CCS-R V8 race car. Here it is in action for the very first time, with Brian Smith, VP Lexus Marketing, discussing the engine and modifications to the ISF CCS-R. The Lexus IS F CCS-R will be lining up against 200 other entrants at the start line of the 90th running of the iconic event, held in the USA on Sunday 12 August. Known as ‘the race to the clouds’ it takes place on a 12.42-mile track that features 156 turns and rises a total of 4,720 feet to the finish line at the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado. Decked out in eye-catching orange mica and black, the Lexus IS F CCS-R uses a modified 416bhp version of the 5.0-litre V8 engine used in the road car, twinned with an eight-speed semi-automatic gearbox. The CCS-R first appeared at the the Tokyo Auto Salon in Tokyo, in 2011. In a race where the thin air at the top of the mountain can cut performance by up to 30 per cent, weight saving is critical – so carbon fibre is used for the bonnet, doors, dashboard and even the door handles. The windows are made from a lightweight polycarbonite material as well. It's a serious machine.
To find out more:
Go to Lexus website: http://www.lexus.com/
Find Lexus on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexus
Follow Lexus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/lexus
Lexus Drivers: http://drivers.lexus.com
L Studio: http://www.youtube.com/user/lstudiopresents
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/lexus
Best of luck to the beast and all at lexus _ we love it at Team Road. And we will be reporting back on how they get on at Pikes Peak here and in www.roadmagazine.co.uk Lexus & Toyota special, later this year.