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Le Mans Champ Beats EV Challengers at Pikes Peak Climb
French driver Romain Dumas posted the fasted time in Sunday’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to become the first driver to win the famous mountain climb and 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in the same year.
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French driver Romain Dumas posted the fastest time in Sunday’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to become the first driver to win the famous mountain climb and 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in the same year.
Dumas was part of the winning Porsche team that edged out Toyota last week in Le Mans. He also finished first at Pikes Peak in 2014 and won Le Mans in 2010.
This year Dumas piloted the Honda-powered prototype Norma M20 RD four-wheel-drive race car. He negotiated the 12.4-mile Pikes Peak course in eight minutes and 51 seconds, which is the second fastest time in the event’s 100-year history. Sebastien Loeb holds the record with a time of just under eight minutes and 14 seconds, which he set in 2013 with a Peugeot 208 T16.
Defending champion Rhys Millen finished second this year, six seconds behind Dumas, in an eO PP100 electric vehicle. Japan’s Tetsuya Yamano took third place in a specially built Acura NSX-based prototype EV.
A slightly modified production NSX won its class with a time of 10:28. Tesla set a new record for a production EV with a time of 11 minutes and 48 seconds for the “Ludicrous” version of its Model S sedan.
This year 98 vehicles competed in the race, including 63 cars and 35 motorcycles. The grueling course includes 156 turns with an average uphill gradient of 7% that rises more than 4,700 feet to a height of 14,100 feet at the finish line.
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