PPIHC ROOKIES IN TIME ATTACK 1 AND OPEN WHEEL ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF RACING ON PIKES PEAK
Colorado Springs, Colorado — The talent and skill of the rookies on hand for The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo, ran deep. Five rookies in the Time Attack 1 division and one in the Open Wheel group made their initial assault on the 12.42 mile course in June.
Time Attack 1
The lone Romanian on the entry list, Jerome France, brought the support of the RD Limited Team, founded by all-time PPIHC record holder Romain Dumas, to the event. Earlier this spring, France and the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RS competed at the Saint-Jean-du-Gard Hill Climb. Both France and teammate Philippe Marion made it to the finish, but it was France who claimed a podium finish, placing third in the division with a time of 10:44.501 behind the wheel of his Porsche 997 GT3 RS.
Katherine Legge has been one of the fastest women in American racing ever since she burst onto the scene with an Atlantic Championship win in her debut race at Long Beach in 2005. Since then, she’s won multiple IMSA races, qualified for four Indianapolis 500s, and inspired countless women on their racing journeys. Her first Pikes Peak experience saw her take the wheel of the all-new Acura Integra Type S DE5, Honda’s newest race car, to a fifth place division finish with a time of 10:51.359.
Zach Sober was one of many Time Attack experts on the grid this year, bringing his familiar orange 2013 Subaru Impreza WRX STI to the mountain. The Texan holds Global Time Attack records in the Enthusiast AWD class at both Buttonwillow and Road Atlanta in the car, both of which were set on his way to the 2022 class championship. In his first PPIHC, Sober placed seventh in the division with an 11:14.233 run.
New Hampshire native Chris du Bois rounded out the Time Attack 1 rookie finishers, but he may have the most hill climb experience of the group. He’s been a regular at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb over the past decade, most recently finishing eighth in the P3 class in its last running in 2021. It was du Bois who rounded out the TA1 top 10 with a time of 12:32.938.
If you think the name Jim Hall II sounds familiar, you’re spot on. Hall’s father was an iconic racer before becoming the driving force behind the legendary Chaparral build that won everything from the Indianapolis 500 to the Nürburgring 1000km. Hall II, meanwhile, became a double World Karting champion, and ran the Jim Hall Kart Racing School for more than three decades. However, the mountain wasn’t kind to him in his first attempt, as he spun out at Engineers Corner ending his run.
Open Wheel
Racing the American X Kart Crosskart, which made its return to the mountain for the first time since 2021, Ryan Cheek made her Pikes Peak debut as the only Open Wheel division rookie. With an extensive resume of time trial, autocross, and hill climb events over her career, Cheek’s no stranger to precision driving. In fact, she’s no stranger to the summit of Pikes Peak either—she volunteered to work at the 14,115′ finish line in 2023. Unfortunately, her first attempt ended due to a mechanical issue. She’ll have to wait until next year to see those checkered flags welcoming her back to the top of America’s Mountain.
2024 Official Race Results
Photo Credits: Larry Chen Photo: Larry Chen, Luis Garcia, Jason Zindroski
Contributor: Chris Leone
Contact:
Lisa Haight
Communications Manager / Historian
lisa@ppihc.org
719-685-4400
www.ppihc.org
At the top of the list of first-time PPIHC racers in the Unlimited division, was five-time European Hill Climb Champion, 
After Derek Boyd took the Halona Farms/4D Engineering 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X to a fifth place division finish last year, 
As part of his first PPIHC effort, 
Mary Barker
Chris Johnson
Edmonton’s 
France’s 
LOWER SECTION – With the Pikes Peak Open and Exhibition divisions on hand, the current course recordholder, 
MIDDLE SECTION – Two closely matched pairs in the Open Wheel and Time Attack 1 classes kept things interesting all morning long. The Open Wheel entries of Codie Vahsholtz and Cole Powelson each posted their top times on their final runs; Vahsholtz ran a 2:33.988 in his 2013 Ford Open, while Powelson’s late switch to the proven 2021 Sierra Alpha saw him end the morning with a 2:38.839.
Leading a Porsche lockout of the top five overall times in TA1, David Donohue, in his 2014 911 Turbo R set a time of 2:42.285 in the second run, and the battle was on for anyone to catch him. Raymond Guerrero came closest, posting a 2:45.167 in the fourth run in his 2019 GT2 RS Clubsport.UPPER SECTION – European hill climb champion Christian Merli set the bar high for the rest of the Unlimited competitors in the 2024 Wolf Aurobay GB08, with a 2:32.637 in his second pass up to the finish line. That was nearly five seconds faster than veteran Dan Novembre, also in a Wolf, who scored a 2:37.265 in his final run.
The brand-new Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama saw Nuno Caetano with the best time in the division with a 2:47.970 which came in his seventh of eight runs. Behind him, Laura Hayes and Robb Holland were separated by less than half a second, with each posting times in the 2:51 range.
Live timing for the 102nd Running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, brought to you by Gran Turismo can be found all week long at 
