Photo: Brapp Snapps
The 96th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb takes place today.
Even though the motorcycle class has shrunk over recent years, there are some heavyweights racing this year, including the current and previous course record holders, Chris Fillmore and Carlin Dunne. Our own former class winner Travis Newbold (above), racing a 450 Honda and aiming for a class win. Plus Deus Ex Machina's custom builder extraordinaire, Michael 'Woolie' Woolaway, is racing a Ducati Hypermotard powered by a tuned 1198RS motor and fitted with MotoGP style winglets.
Photos: @wooliesworkshop
Bikes with clip-ons have been banned, so the Deus Ducati, with its flat, narrow bars and low bar clamps, is as close to a bike with clip-ons as I've personally seen since that new rule. The reason for the ban was a reaction to a spate of deaths of riders on supersport bikes after the course became entirely paved. The first entirely paved running of the 12.4 mile course was 2012.
Fillmore will be racing the racing a KTM 790 Duke parallel twin, after wining and securing the course record on a KTM 1290 SuperDuke R last year. while Dunne and his teammate Codie Vahsholtz are on massive Ducati 1260 Multistradas.
Even though there are only 20 motorcycle entries (plus two quads), there are five classes being contested. Travis is in the seven-strong lightweight. Fillmore in the three-bike Middleweight; the Multistradas help make a total of six in the heavyweight class, while Woolie's Ducati is one of two in the Exhibition Powersport Class (the same as Guy Martin raced his turbo Martek Suzuki in, and Travis won last year on the Bottpower XR1R). There are also two electric entires.
The motorcycles run the course first starting, we believe, at 8am - Colorado time. The event is being livestreamed, but it's pay per view, with a charge of $4.99. Follow this link to purchase - PPIHC Livestream
Below is the official KTM film of Fillmore's 2018 record run.