Shute Climbs To The Top In 97th Pikes Peak Hill Climb

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On a somber day at the summit of Pikes Peak, Robin Shute emerged as the overall winner of the 97th edition of the Pikes Peak Int’l Hill Climb on Sunday afternoon.

Shute, competing in the Unlimited class in his 2018 Wolf TSC-Honda, reached the summit of Pikes Peak with a time of 9 minutes and 12.476 seconds. That was enough to give him the overall victory by a little more than 11 seconds over Time Attack 1 division winner Raphael Astier.

Several competitors in the car divisions were unable to make the full assent up the mountain when a storm forced officials to move the finish line to Geln Cove, guaranteeing Shute the fastest time on the full course.

Astier ended the day second overall and first in the Time Attack 1 class with his time of 9:23.721 in his 2017 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Turbo. The next three finishers were all competing in the Pikes Peak Open class, with RealTime Racing’s Peter Cunningham claiming the class victory and the final place on the overall podium aboard his 2019 Acura TLX GT with a time of 9:24.433.

The excitement of the day at Pikes Peak was overshadowed by a tragedy near the top of the mountain. Ducati motorcycle rider Carlin Dunne was ejected from his bike near the finish line and fell down the mountain, suffering fatal injuries. Click here for more.

David Donohue was fourth overall and second in the Pikes Peak Open class, more than eight seconds behind the time set by Cunningham. Layne Schranz was fifth overall and third in the Pikes Peak Open division. Paul Dallenbach was sixth overall, which was enough to give him the Open Wheel division triumph.

Seventh overall went to the fastest bike on the mountain this year, with Rennie Scaysbrook shattering the motorcycle record with a time of 9:44.963 aboard his 2018 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100. The time easily gave him the class victory in the Pikes Peak Heavyweight division and made him the fastest motorcycle rider in Pikes Peak history.

Clint Vahsholtz was eighth overall and second in Time Attack 1, with Greg Tracy ending the day ninth overall and second in the Unlimited division. Lucy Glockner finished 10th overall to win the Exhibition Powersport class.

Another notable result during Sunday’s Hill Climb included the run by Rhys Millen, who reset the production car record up the mountain aboard a 2019 Bentley Continental GT with a time of 10:18.488.

X-Games star and former NASCAR competitor Travis Pastrana also came away a winner Sunday at Pikes Peak, taking the Porsche Trophy by Yokohama division victory for the second year in a row.

Other division winners included Chris Fillmore (Pikes Peak Lightweight) and Rafael Paschoalin (Pikes Peak Middleweight).