Veteran hillclimber Clint Vahsholtz claimed overall and Open Wheel division honors in the 98th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with his 2013 Ford Open Wheeler. In his 29th run up the 12.42-mile “Race to the Clouds,” Vahsholtz’s time of 9m35.490s edged out fellow Pikes Peak veteran Paul Dallenbach for overall and Open Wheel honors by just 0.691s.
In what was a challenging year for the venerable hill climb event, with spectators prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic and no motorcycles in the entry, the win by Vahsholtz was a needed emotional boost and added to a storied history for the Vahsholtz family at the “Race to the Clouds”. Since 1977 the Colorado family have had at least one family member in the race, and Clint, now 47, holds the most division and class wins at Pikes Peak of any competitor ever, with 24 wins in cars and motorcycles. But he’d never won overall — until today.
Third overall and winner in the Time Attack 1 class was David Donner, who logged a 9m356.559 in his 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport to edge Pikes Peak Hall of Famer Jeff Zwart for class honors. Zwart, fifth overall, reached the top in 9m43.921 in his Porsche 935-19.
Layne Schranz was sixth overall and winner of the Pikes Peak Open class, with a 9m45.360s in his 2018 Chevrolet SS (watch an on board video of his run below), while drifting star Daijiro Yohihara won the Unlimited class with the last run of the day among the 45 entrants, a 10m05.006s.
Source: racer.com