EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 7:
PIKES PEAK RALLY
The most popular spectator point on Pikes Peak is the ‘Devil’s Playground’. Even at a height of 12780 feet it is not at the top of the mountain but it offers a vantage point from which you can watch the competitors as they work their way through some of the 156 turns it takes to climb 4800 feet to the 14110 feet summit. This tortuous road is 12.442 miles long.
It’s a tough event. Not only because the height affects car’s performance but the road is a mix of asphalt and gravel with no guardrails and vertical drops. It requires a bucketful of courage and a powerful car to win this event.
There are really two events in one. For the entrants in the Falken Tire Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, there is a week of practicing and qualifying for a single timed run up the hill to determine the winner. For the rally entrants, the organisers have made a single-venue event with seven stages by using different parts of the hill on different days.
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