This year's Pikes Peak was predicted to be the fastest ever thanks to an extra 1.9 miles of paved road along the route. It didn't turn out that way for the Unlimited class racers, but it did certainly speed things up in the other classes. One in particular smashed the previous 2WD Time Attack class record by 38 seconds: the 911 GT3 Cup.
Running up the hill in a mere 11:31.095--just over 20 seconds behind Rhys Millen's Hyundai Genesis Red Bull prototype car--the scary-fast Luminox Watch Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racer piloted by Jeff Zwart set a new record. The previous record had been held by Millen.
Zwart, now a seven-time Pikes Peak class winner, not only broke the 2009 class record by 38 seconds, but went faster than all but five of the entire field -- three Unlimited Class and two Open Wheels cars, all with 600-plus horsepower. His 911 GT3 Cup car also beat all the production based race car entries.
The sound alone is worth the 5:31 video run time of Zwart's qualifying run shown here. It's not the full hillclimb, but it gives you a slice of what it's like to go up the mountain at full tilt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CxVL...ayer_embedded#

 

Wow. How many people go off and get hurt? I guess I'm asking considering the VR situation at the the 341.

 

The latter part of the track was unpaved suraface. He really got some skills

 

I drove a suburban at 15 mph up that hill and was scared.....

I am too used to flat land

 

Impressive driving and what a car! You can see the incredible steering corrections he had to do. Ballz of steel!
btw was Cup car on slicks?? Or maybe rains which would be shoot by the time he got to the top.

Ranger

 

freakin awesome!!

 

It’s great to see modern Porsche’s used in the old Hill Climb tradition, it reminds us of the early roots/DNA of the company and its strong motorsport heritage. It’s interesting to see how the rear engine/chassis layout excels in putting down power and providing traction through the various surface changes.

 

I still remember the Porsche 959's in the Dakkar Rally I believe.... just funny seeing P-car offroad lol. Pikes peak drivers have ballz of steel, high speeds sliding around just edges from a huge drop off.... just crazy

 

That was some seriously good driving... Count me as massively impressed..

 

WOW. amazing video

 

all i can say is AWSOME!!!!!!

thanks for posting

 

So someone asked how many people go off and get hurt. Well there certainly have been more than a few, but surprisingly not as many as most would think. The hill is a ton of fun and while it is not completely evident in the video, there is quite a bit of space up there.

That is not to say that it does not take a ton of skill to drive this fast, because it certainly does, but there is quite a bit of wiggle room in most areas. Racing it going down..... Now that is a challenge, and more than a little spooky.

Erik Johnson

 

I was there this year as an entrant and Jeff was in my run group. What a car/driver! I have done all kinds of racing/rally and this has been a bucket list event of mine for 30 years, so I said what the heck. (I have been off gravel for many years) What did I learn? The hill is very tough on the equipment and you need a big "set" to make it up top fast. I rented a rally car for the event and ended up at 11:54...1.6 seconds behind the class winner. One lift screwed me. Now I have to go back with a better car/set up. I am hooked! Here is a shot of Jeff's car and my car.

 

Nice pics Karl. Should've brought that fancy RS to Harris Hill this past weekend. I think the bumps on it were more challenging.

 

some (more) pictures: