Following Motul’s great success in two of the four classes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sports car racing’s oldest and most famous race, last weekend – Greaves Motorsport finishing first in the LMP2 category and Larbre Competition taking impressive first and second places in the GTE-Am class – attention now turns to another historic and celebrated event – the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, USA.
The global lubricant specialists, whose products are present in over 80 markets throughout the world, will be technical partner at Pikes Peak on Sunday, June 26 to no less than six cars which are represented in two of the multiple categories on the entry list. The ‘Race to the Clouds’ is an annual automobile and motorcycle climb, first run in 1916 and which covers both dirt and tarmac surfaces to the summit of Pikes Peak, a distance of 19.99 km (12.42 miles) over 156 turns, climbing to over 4,267 metres (14,000 feet) above sea level.
In the Unlimited Class the French ‘No Limit ‘Dacia Duster of Jean-Philippe Dayraut, the former SuperTouring and Andros Trophy champion who last winter won the famous ice racing Championship with Motul, will be crossing the Atlantic to make his debut at Pikes Peak. Alongside Tork Engineering and Renault Sport, Motul has been a strong supporter of Dayraut’s project : to make a challenge upon the sub-10 minute course record. Whether the Frenchman is successful or not, he will be treating 2011 very much as a learning experience and fully intends to follow in the footsteps of his hero Ari Vatanen and conquer the mountain. He will be joined in the Unlimited Division by a new Mitsubishi Evo 959 from the Rally Ready team, which has also been developed specially for a record-breaking attempt, in the hands of Texan Dave Carapetyan.
The reason for the race for glory is that 2011 will be the last running of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a combination of 50% dirt and 50% asphalt surfaces as Colorado Springs is being forced by a lawsuit to pave the road all the way to the summit before next year’s event.
Motul is supporting four cars in the Time Attack class including the Subaru of Las Vegas/Zenkai Motorsports powered by Crawford Performance entry driven by French two-time class winner Stephan Verdier. The association between Subaru and Motul is long-standing and wide-ranging, and covers racing programs worldwide such as rallies, GT300, the forthcoming Nürburgring 24 Hours and, of course, with Ken Block’s infamous Gymkhana displays. Motul has been working closely alongside Crawford Performance in terms of technical support for the 2011 Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
Rookie Kashmeer Singh lines up his Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 in the 2W division of the Time Attack class, alongside the Nissan 240SX of Fatman Racing driven by Ken Stouffer who last year placed second. The Nissan will be the cause of considerable attention due to the presence of Stouffer’s co-driver, Travis Tollett who, in 2009, became the first quadriplegic competitor in the (then) 87-year history of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Additionally, Motul will be supporting the Subaru 4WD Impreza of the Rally Ready Team, driven by Carlos Martinez de Campos from Spain.
The high altitude often poses challenges in motorsport, but the engine internals of all Motul’s technical partners will enjoy the protection of the Motul 300V range of products. Testing their products in both laboratories and on the living test benches of gruelling, endurance motorsports events such as Pikes Peak and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Motul has proved itself to offer reliable and race-winning lubricants for every part of a car or motorcycle.
Fatman Racing’s Ken Stouffer sums up his team’s close relationship with Motul. “We have been using Motul lubricants for every part of our car; from MoCool in the cooling system, all the way back to the lube in the rear diff and everything in between. After three years of extreme use, we have had zero defects in any part protected by Motul lubricants and fluids.”
His feelings are endorsed by Rally Ready’s Dave Carapetyan. “Like all of the other cars we have raced at Pikes Peak in the past, Motul is the life blood of this car. We can reliably make very consistent power and manage an effective cooling and braking system entirely due to our exclusive use of Motul lubricants. I am a firm believer in the power of Motul for the grassroots competitor. There is nothing more effective at helping the grassroots competitor ensure consistent, reliable finishes and extreme protection than quality lubricants and there is nothing better than Motul.”
