Romain Dumas overcomes early issue to win fifth Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Romain Dumas‘ Pikes Peak International Hill Climb started with a near disaster when his Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck came to a sudden halt with an electrical issue. It ended with his fifth crown.

Despite the truck suddenly stopping and adding roughly twenty-six seconds to his time, Dumas was able to restart the vehicle before proceeding. Although this prevented him from setting the best possible time up the highway, he still managed to be the only driver in the field to set a time below nine minutes. He previously claimed the 2014 and 2016 to 2018 editions, but 2024 was his first with Ford.

“Everything about this event is a challenge because it is unlike any other form of racing, you only have one shot,” Dumas stated. “We faced a challenge early on but that only gave me more determination to make up the lost time in the rest of the run.”

The F-150 Lightning SuperTruck is an electric vehicle developed by Ford Design and STARD Advanced Research and Development. It is capable of 1,600 horsepower from three LMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide) batteries and over 6,000 pounds of downforce at 150 miles per hour (93.20 km/h). Prior to the hillclimb, Dumas smashed the qualifying record with a time of 3:32.831, surpassing that set by its predecessor SuperVan 4.2 of 3:39.939 in 2023.

FIA European Hill Climb Champion Christian Merli finished second in his Pikes Peak début, driving a Wolf Aurobay GB 08 in the Unlimited class.

“To be honest I’d hoped to do better even though it was my first time both on the track and with the 380-hp Wolf,” said Merli. “In this month of testing we always did the track in three separate sections and only on race day did we run it in one go. I am very moved. I’ve been here for a month and I take first place in the Unlimited category and second overall on my debut in what is a crazy race. I was afraid of making a mistake and I tried to keep everything under control. I am really happy.”

World Rally Championship driver Dani Sordo rounded out the overall podium in his Hyundai IONIQ 5 N TA Spec. Like Dumas, a fellow rally raid part-timer, Sordo’s vehicle is an electric vehicle; the IONIQ 5 N TA Spec produces more 37 horsepower than its production counterpart. Randy Pobst also raced one, while Ron Zaras took part in the production version. Paul Dallenbach was originally scheduled to race one of his own but withdrew due to injuries sustained in practice.

IndyCar and IMSA veteran Katherine Legge finished twenty-seventh overall and fifth in the Time Attack 1 class in her first Pikes Peak. Her car, an Acura Integra Type S DE5, is based on the Type S sport compact.

Overall results