After a record-smashing, but fire-delayed edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last month, organizers of the venerable race said Wednesday they will return to a mid-summer running in 2013.
The 91st “Race For the Clouds” will race June 30 next year, organizers said. This year’s race was bumped to Aug. 12 after the from the original July 8 date.
The Hill Climb, too, will race on similiar dates through 2017, after those schedules were announced.
“We felt that it was practical to establish similar dates for the future for many reasons,” PPIHC chairman Tom Osborne said in a release.
“It gives the drivers, racers, fans, sponsors, suppliers and the many businesses and organizations that support the race a clear path to plan ahead for race week.”
The and was the fastest running of the Hill Climb since it’s inception in 1916 (it is the second-oldest, still-running auto race in the United States, behind only the Indianapolis 500).
Rally race star Rhys Millen of Huntington Beach, Calif., , finishing in 9 minutes, 46.16 seconds in his 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
Millen edged Romain Dumas of Switzerland, who had set a record time of 9:46.18 earlier in the day.
Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, the first driver to break the 10-minute barrier at Pikes Peak when he went 9:51.28 in 2011, blew his engine and finished behind the pack.
This year’s race was the first run at Pikes Peak since the 12.42-mile course to the 14,110-foot summit . In previous years, the course had been run over dirt and gravel, with drivers navigating controlled spins around hairpin turns around steep cliffs.
The pavement resulted in increased speeds this year, but more dangerous driving. A during a practice run. And driver .
