Five-time overall Pikes Peak International Hill Climb victor Romain Dumas, aboard Ford’s new 1,600 horsepower all-electric Super Mustang, was denied a sixth overall victory during last weekend’s 103rd running of the event, all because of Colorado’s dramatic weather. Dumas, himself no stranger to altitude, did finish second overall and first in the Pikes Peak Open class, losing only to the lightweight gasoline-powered Nova Proto NP01 Bardahl prototype of Simone Faggioli.
Due to the massive 120 mile per hour winds recorded above the tree line, the event was forced to run a shortened course this year instead of the full 12.42 miles. The lightweight advantage of Faggioli’s car outshone the power and altitude advantage provided by Dumas’ EV on this day, with Simone putting down a 3:37.196 run, while Romain finished just five seconds behind.
That five second advantage to Faggioli would have, under normal circumstances, evaporated as the elevation climbed further up the mountain. Higher elevation means less oxygenated air, meaning the gasoline-powered car would lose horsepower dramatically as it got closer to the traditional summit finish, an affliction not shared by oxygen-ambivalent electric powertrains.
Send it anyway
Starved of several miles of off-corner-acceleration advantage, as the event staff decided to place the finish line at Glen Cove this year, the Ford didn’t really stand a chance.
The three-time Le Mans winning Swiss driver had this to say once the run was over: “The run was good, I have to say, unfortunately to doesn’t [sic] have the second and third sector for us is a little bit a shame because it’s where we normally gain time to the other small prototypes. They will beat us today, but the mountain decides, we can say like that. We are winning the class, that’s the most important. But for sure, we can be a little bit disappointed about the story here, but it’s like that. It’s not on our end, I think.”
Perhaps next year Ford will get the Pikes Peak overall record they so desperately want to beat. Either way, Dumas will continue to hold the overall record on the mountain, which he set with the Volkswagen ID.R electric prototype in 2018.
