News from Kenworth: Kenworth/CFI T2000 Team Shatter Pikes Peak Record
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jeff Parietti, (425) 828-5196, jparietti@paccar.com Canepa, Kenworth/CFI T2000 Shatter Big Rig Record at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb PIKES PEAK, Colo., July 2, 2001 - Bruce Canepa was a man not to be denied Saturday at the 79th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb here. Canepa deftly piloted the Kenworth/CFI T2000 Red Racer Peak Performer to a record time of 13 minutes, 59.6 seconds over the difficult, twisting 12.42-mile course. That shattered the previous Highway Class/Big Rig Division record of 14 minutes 34.41 seconds set by Canepa at last year's Pikes Peak race. Canepa and the Kenworth T2000 big rig averaged 53.2 miles per hour during the trip up an average 7 percent grade from the starting line elevation of 9,390 feet to 14,110 feet at the Pikes Peak summit. The Santa Cruz, Calif. driver passed the course's major radar checkpoint at 90 miles per hour during his victorious, record run. "The Kenworth T2000 was good and the road was tough," said Canepa, who began racing go-karts at the age of 10 and later finished third in 24 Hours of Daytona in 1979 with teammates Rick Mears and Monte Shelton. "I was a little conservative on the lower section, got up to good speed in the middle, then faced one rough road on the top." "Driving a big rig up a mountain road is certainly one of the most challenging things that I've done in my racing career," Canepa said. "There's really no margin for error on many areas of the course, especially when you have a several hundred foot drop staring at you from below." In addition to literally driving on the edge, drivers also must meet the challenge of 156 turns, blind switchbacks and ever-changing road surface conditions on the Pikes Peak course. An early afternoon thunderstorm also left the gravel and dirt track wet in places for Canepa's late afternoon run. "In those types of conditions, it's certainly important that you're running equipment that you can count on, and the Kenworth T2000 and the Kenworth/CFI racing team really came through for me," Canepa said. "Bruce did a fantastic job," said Mike Gilbert, team leader for the Kenworth/CFI Pikes Peak racing team and Kenworth Truck Co. assistant chief engineer in Kirkland, Wash. "He drove a smart and safe race while navigating an extremely tough course to a record time. You can't ask for more from a driver." Gilbert also commended the Kenworth/CFI Pikes Peak racing team, which included a group of 14 Kenworth engineers. Since March, the Kenworth engineers volunteered hundreds of hours on evenings and weekends to help make the T2000 faster for this year's race. "They worked hard to reduce the T2000's weight, increase horsepower, improve handling and enhance traction over last year," Gilbert said. "We took over 1,000 pounds of weight out of the truck, used a 1,200-horsepower Caterpillar C-16 engine, and went to a ZF 5HP500 Ecomat automatic transmission modified to racing specifications. Plus, the Bridgestone tires were integral to our success today on the constantly changing track surface." Canepa was also backed by pit support from Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI), Caterpillar, ZF, Arvin Ride Control, Bridgestone and DuPont. Kenworth Truck Company uses its Pikes Peak racing experience to help evaluate systems and parts that may eventually become available on Kenworth production truck models. Official supplier sponsors of Kenworth's Pikes Peak effort included CFI, ZF, ZFMeritor, Bridgestone, Bendix, DuPont, Eaton, Dana Spicer, Alcoa, Horton, Camfil Farr, Arvin Ride Control and ConMet. When he's not racing, Bruce Canepa operates Canepa Design in Santa Cruz, Calif. He has been designing custom road machines for many years and now enjoys an international reputation as one of the world's leading and most versatile designers. Canepa Design's website is at www.canepa.com The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb's website is at www.ppihc.com CFI, an international truckload carrier based in Joplin, Mo., is a major Kenworth fleet operator. CFI operates over 2,000 tractors and over 6,000 trailers and transports a variety of goods throughout the contiguous United States and Canada. CFI's website is at www.cfi-us.com. Kenworth Truck Company, a division of PACCAR Inc, is a leading manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash. Kenworth's website is at www.kenworth.com # NOTE TO EDITORS: For high-resolution versions of the attached images, please reply to this email. Caption information is below. Also, additional images will be available later today. Caption information: 035lr.JPG - Bruce Canepa with Kenworth/CFI T2000 'Red Racer' 034lr.JPG - Bruce Canepa with Kenworth/CFI T2000 'Red Racer' 030lr.JPG - Bruce Canepa with Kenworth/CFI T2000 'Red Racer' 020lr.JPG - The Kenworth/CFI Race Team 028lr.JPG - A German TV crew interviews a victorious Bruce Canepa TimeTrialslr.JPG - The Kenworth/CFI 'Red Racer' rounds a tight corner in a practice run late last week (please note that this image is not available in high-resolution)