Off Road: 10-Minute mark safe at Pikes Peak as Millen 'DNFs'
6 July 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The 10-minute barrier remains intact at Pikes Peak as its top challenger failed to finish Tuesday's 78th Adelphia Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Defending "Unlimited Class" champion Rod Millen of Newport Beach, Calif. appeared on pace to break the barrier until his Toyota Tacoma Truck malfunctioned near George's Corner, about half-way through the 12.42-mile course. He had covered the 5.5 miles from The Start Line to Glen Cove in a blistering 4 minutes and 21 seconds!
"The disappointing part is that we came here to capitalize on the race conditions, which were very good," said Millen. "We had a record run going and unfortunately the turbocharger had problems. The Tacoma was running the best I've ever had up here. The set-up and the handling could not have been better."
Japan's Koichi Horiuchi, his only competition in the "Unlimited" Class, also failed to finish the climb.
Swede Per Eklund, however, did establish a new Pikes Peak mark of 11:21.58 in the Pikes Peak Open Class in his Hyundai Tiburon. Former Open champion Paul Choiniere held the record for a short time with his run of 11:26.05 but he finished second to Eklund. Defending Open champion Jean Pierre Richelmi finished third at 12:46.24, suffering a flat tire a little over a mile into the course and overcoming two spins.
UNLIMITED CLASS
Pos/Driver/Car/Time
-/Rod Millen/1999 Toyota Tacoma #1/DNF
-/Koichi Horiuchi/1997 Mitsubishi #05/DNF
PIKES PEAK OPEN CLASS
Pos/Driver/Car/Time
1/Per Eklund/SAAB 9-3 Viggen #93/11:21.58
2/Paul Choiniere/2000 Hyundai Tiburon #12/11:26.05
3/Ohashi Masaki/1999 Mitsubishi #27/11:49.56
4/Steve Beddor/CTR2 Sport Ruf #4/12:16.81
5/Jean Pierre Richelmi/Lancia Delta Integrale #111/12:46.24
6/Saiji Iriyama/1999 Mitsubishi Lancer #108/13:10.34
-/Tajima Nobuhiro/Suzuki Esteem #3/DNF
Text provided by Dick Jordan
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