A week after winning the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a historic double with overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche, lets take a look back at this 2016 edition of the Race to the Clouds, in numbers and letters.
Numbers don’t lie.
2 : The number of overall victories for Romain Dumas at Pikes Peak. He is the first French driver to take two wins in the event. Michèle Mouton won in 1985, Sébastien Loeb in 2013.
3 : The number of class victories. After winning the Pikes Peak Open category in 2012, the Alès, France native also has two wins in Unlimited. Michèle Mouton also has two victories in this class (1984, 1985).
4 : As in four-wheel-drive. The Norma M20 RD Limited Spec-2016 had power going to the ground through all four wheels, a first for the French prototype maker and rarity for a CN class car.
13 : The number of people present in Colorado as part of the RD Limited team. 2 drivers, 1 track-engineer, 1 system- engineer, 1 special adviser, 1 coordinator, 1 crew chief, 4 mechanics, 2 trucky/tiremen.
19,99 : The number of kilometers in the climb to the summit.
20 : The number of tires used during race week. Four fresh tires were used each day of practice/qualifying and a fifth set was bolted on for race day.
24 : The number of donuts for the team’s breakfast every day.
30 : The number of hours the mechanics were awake and working on replacing the broken engine. From the start of the practice session on Friday to the fixing and shakedown of the car, the team had its own endurance race.
31 : The number of full days between the very first roll out for the Norma M20 RD Limited Spec-2016, at Pau-Arnos, and the start of the Pikes Peak hill climb.
100 : Pikes Peak International Hill Climb celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. The second oldest race in the United States had 100 entries : 67 cars, 33 bikes.
156 : The number of corners in the Race to the Clouds.
180 : The number of minutes of sleep per day, on average, for each member of the team during the week.
258 : In km/h, top speed reached on the mountain !
368 : The number of gear changes during the Pikes Peak climb.
520 : In thousands, the number of views on Romain Dumas’s Twitter account.
700 : In thousands, the number of people reached on the Facebook page for Romain Dumas during the week.
1438 : In meters, the elevation change encountered on race day, in less than nine minutes from the star tat 2862 meters to 4300 meters at the finish.
8:51:445 : Romain Dumas’s time in 2016, the second fastest time in the history of the event, behind Sébastien Loeb. Dumas also holds the fifth quickest time in 9:05:801 (2014) and holds the record for Pikes Peak Open, with 9:46:181 (since 2012).
By the letter.
A like Astier. Driving the Porsche enterer by Romain Dumas’s team, Raphaël Astier made an impressive debut at Pikes Peak. Second in Time Attack 1, 10th overall and best rookie, an important award that has previous been awarded to Sébastien Loeb in 2013 and….Romain Dumas in 2012.
D like Dupin. French artist and magician Arsène Dupin had already spent time with team during the 2014 victory at Pikes Peak and he returned to do a few more magic tricks on Friday, offering a queen of hearts which was affixed to the Norma’s dashboard for race day.
L like Logisitcs. What you need for Pikes Peak : a cargo container and air freight going, and two containers on the return trip. But also, two trucks and two trailers provided by Penske Trucks, and four rental cars.
M like Motorsports Park in Pueblo. Following the first test session on Tuesday, the team headed to this small circuit for even more testing, especially on the drag strip.
N like Norma or Norbert Santos. With this success, Norma takes home its second victory at Pikes Peak and gets even closer to record holders Peugeot (3) for French makers. Norma is also named for founder Norbert Santos, whose passion and determination is unparalleled. The Norbert Santos and Romain Dumas adventure began during the offseason 2012/2013 when the two met randomly at a petrol station.
O like Oxygen. Because there’s so little of the stuff at the summit, Romain Dumas had a 2-liter bottle (0,42m3) onboard with him on race day.
P like PCS Motorsports. RD Limited team members and the two entered cars were welcomed into the PCS Motorsports workshops to work in ideal conditions, with not only several lifts but a dynamometer as well.
R like Raceway. In Colorado Springs, following the engine change, the Norma was shaken down at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
S like Solidarity. During race week, the team faced and overcame huge obstacles and mechanical issues. But the team could always depend on the solidarity among competitors at the PPIHC, including a team that lent a hand to build a new exchanger for the car.
T like Tajima. Monster Tajima is legend of PIkes Peak. The nine-time winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year and is known for his good mood, sense of fairplay and humility. A true champion.