Two-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas continues to shine on Pikes Peak. The Frenchman took his fifth overall title last weekend at the 102nd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and did it in style with Ford Performance.
Dumas, who still holds the all-time Pikes Peak record of 7:57.148 in an electric Volkswagen ID.R in 2018, once again ran the fastest in an electric car, but this time his weapon of choice was the astonishing Ford F engine from 1,600 hp. 150 Lightning SuperTruck.
His race day time on the 12.42 mile route was 8:53.563, almost seven seconds ahead of the other runners. And it came just days after he set a new Open Class qualifying record with a time of 3:32.831, more than seven seconds faster than the previous record of 3:39.939 set by the 2023 Ford Performance SuperVan 4.2.
What made his winning streak even more impressive was the fact that he overcame a technical problem on his way to the top.
The problem forced him to come to a complete stop, delaying him by approximately 26 seconds. Fortunately, he was able to quickly fully reset the SuperTruck and continue his climb, pushing himself to the limit to ensure he claimed the top spot in the 61-car field.
“The run was very difficult,” Dumas said. “I don’t know what happened at the start; the car turned off completely on its own, that has never happened before. I didn’t panic, I just looked at the numbers and everything looked good, I did a power cycle myself and was able to restart.
“On the radio they told me there was a red flag because I assume they saw I had stopped on the track, but I had already started again so I didn’t know whether to stop or not. confusion! On the first split I saw that I was 26 seconds slower compared to my provisional (time) so I knew it was good, I just had to push and it should work out.
“I am honored to achieve this victory with Ford Performance at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb,” he added. “Everything about this event is a challenge because it is unlike any other form of racing: you only have one chance. We faced a challenge early on, but that only gave me more determination to make up for lost time in the rest of the run.”
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, added: “The progress of Ford EVs taking on and completing the toughest challenges is a key testament to the hard work and dedication our teams have put into the program.
“We learned a lot from SuperVan 4.2 at last year’s Pikes Peak International Hill climb and were able to apply that knowledge to this year’s run – it just keeps going from here.”
Developed in collaboration with STARD (Stohl Advanced Research and Development), the Ford Performance F-150 Lightning SuperTruck is the latest machine to draw attention from Ford Performance’s Electric Demonstrator program.
It follows the epic 2000hp EV SuperVan 4.2 that raced at Pikes Peak last year and broke the Bathurst lap record in February.
The second fastest time at this year’s PPIHC was a 9:04.454 from Unlimited class winner Christian Merli, who was entered in a Wolf Aurobay GB08 2.0 HP.
Other class winners included WRC veteran Dani Sordo (Exhibition), who managed a 9:30s.852 aboard a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N TA and. David Donohue (Time Attack 1) who climbed the mountain in 9:49.029 with his 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo R.
Katherine Legge also competed, her run of 10:51.359 in an Acura Integra good enough for 27th and fifth place in Time Attack 1.
FIA WEC TV pit reporter Bruce Jouanny was unfortunately a dnf in the spectacular Quarkus P3.
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Images courtesy of PPIHC & Ford