Why Pikes Peak is the World's Toughest Racetrack

these drivers are some of the bravest in the world doing 150 miles an hour up a mountain with 2 000 foot drops and no barriers to make it even trickier the course is over 12 miles long and you complete it whilst the elevation is sapping mental power i some i summarize pike's peak by its extremity the the weather the risk the unknowns and the grandeur of the scenery no less that's randy pops a two-time daytona 24-hour winner and has raced pikes peak many times in anything from a ford mustang to a tesla model 3. he knows both the highs and the lows of the yearly race to the clouds the pikes peak hill climb so why do we think this is the toughest racetrack on the planet hold the comments you may be thinking isn't the nurburgring the most dangerous track in the world and you've got a good point but let me explain how pike's peak is different the nordschleifer is a formidable beast 12 miles 156 corners and absolutely no runoff memorizing the track in the first place is a challenge let alone racing other cars and navigating the unpredictable weather there are hundreds of accidents every year on the nordschleife and it's certainly very good at catching out even the most experienced drivers however pikes peak is as if you wrap the nordschleifer around a mountain the nordschleife and the pikes peak hill climb course are almost exactly the same length both at roughly 12 miles long and around 150 turns however the big difference is that the pike's peak climb starts at 9000 feet and climbs up a mountain to over 14 000 feet at the summit this is only just under half the cruising altitude of a boeing 737 and high enough to cause some pretty serious altitude sickness adding to this there is no runoff and only guard rails between you and finding out the terminal velocity of your car and in some spots there are no barriers at all top section has these 100 mile an hour sweepers mountain on the left blue sky on the right nothing but air pike's peak is the second longest running race in the world after the indy 500 where in 1916 locals began racing up the pikes peak highway competing for the fastest time and since then it has bred hundreds of custom cars and has been the stage for some of the bravest most highly skilled drivers on the planet for the majority of that time the track was dirt but since 2011 it has been fully paved it was actually i believe easier when it was dirt because the speeds were lower and now the runoff is the same and the speeds are so much higher if anything goes wrong it goes more wrong and again these aren't wide smooth roads like most conventional race circuits just like the famous nordschleifer the roads are narrow winding and have lots of elevation and camber changes all perfect for catching drivers out just memorizing the track is a mammoth task in the first place and being quick is another challenge on top of that they both have many blind bends that require complete commitment and perfect judgment as well as the challenge of many corners looking very similar pikes peak has another incredible challenge the altitude not only does the mounting course have incredible drops but it also means the air is much thinner this means that the car's aero doesn't work quite as well the petrol engine cars require massive turbos to maintain power but also the drivers struggle too the human brain requires a healthy supply of oxygen to work at optimal levels and so reducing this at altitude is a real challenge for the drivers and it comes at a time when they need maximum concentration to stay on the road the lack of oxygen is enough to rob around 30 percent of the power from a petrol engine and does a similar thing to your brain power so the drivers have oxygen pipes straight into their helmets to help them stay sharp the whole way up the run it improves mental clarity and it's safer and it's just better for you i don't think there's a measurable way i've never tried it with and without back to back it's also a comfort to sit on the line and feel that oxygen's going that's how it works you get a little every so often and for a lot of the cars randy has run in the past they essentially have to stay as stock road cars part of the challenge is the altitude tuning your car to run at 14 000 feet where do you do that and the electric cars because of this altitude they have a tremendous advantage because the electrons they don't care about the altitude there is also another huge challenge that is unique to pike's peak if you're racing at the nordschleife there are practice days and qualifying before the race however at pikes peak you don't do the full run until race day no testing and no full runs but there's that drama of one run you get one shot in unknown conditions at very high risk in extreme machines again you don't get to practice it and it's different every year qualifying is only over the bottom stretch and you are only allowed to practice one section at a time in the week running up to the race where the conditions will almost certainly be different now you may be thinking why bother qualifying if it's just a time attack well it matters a lot the faster you qualify the earlier you get to start and this means that the track is cooler and therefore grippier and on top of that there is a much lower chance of the storms that are pretty frequent there the road also changes a race circuit tends to clean up and rubber in with lots of running over a race weekend however pikes peak never gets to this stage the tarmac is dusty and often very bumpy paved road freezes and gets rough the top section is incredibly rough the car will actually leave the ground in places and that was how i got in trouble last year and again you don't get to practice it and it's different every year and all those things are constantly changing at pike's peak they're the only thing consistent is that there are so many unknowns the freeze and thawing of the mountain means that the tarmac warps and creates bumps over the winter each year the track changes significantly despite randy's extensive experience and driving skill even he has got caught out a few times showing it only takes a tiny mistake to have a huge crash last year randy was running a tesla model 3 and had an accident in testing showing the smallest mistake can be costly he was also lucky that this was an area with a little bit of runoff some haven't been so lucky there have been many accidents where people have made a tiny mistake and have slid over the edge thankfully in all of these accidents the drivers have got out without major injuries and this is what it all comes down to the number of unknowns track temperature the grip available the weather the car's performance and even your ability to react to unexpected things happening it's a constant management of risk how far can i push it here and make it and that's part of the thrill too because sometimes you push it a little too far and you get one of those kind of whoa whoa whoa made it and that's why we think it's the most challenging track in the world so many unknowns and your run is purely based on your ability to predict the grip and ability to react in case it's not there what do you think we are going to pikes peak this year so i'm very excited to bring you more content around this incredible race one of the most interesting things about pikes peak is that there is an ultimate class where the cars don't have to comply to any rules we made a video about that here so please go and check it out cheers and i'll see you next time

Channel: Driver61

Views: 134,066

Keywords: Formula 1, Driving, Coaching, Motorsport, Engineering, F1, Racing, Incredible Motorsport, Driver61, Pikes Peak, Randy Pobst, travis pastrana, red bull, pikes peak record, world record, pikes peak international hill climb (tourist attraction), pikes peak 2018, Tesla, Tesla Model 3, Porsche, Race to the Clouds

Id: B0fJUJPXhRw

Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 16 2021