It’s a long way to the top…
The world-famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb returns to Colorado Springs on Sunday 20 July, and hundreds of competitors on motorcycles, quads, sidecars, dune buggys, superstock cars, vintage vehicles and even trucks will be making their way to the spectacular Pikes Peak mountain for the second oldest motorsport event in the United States.
This year will be the 86th running of the ‘Race to the Clouds’ and the 92nd anniversary of this historical event. A team of several committed BMW riders will be among the many competitors attempting to scale this 12.42-mile (20-km) course that begins at 9,390 feet (2,862 metres) and finishes at the 14,110-foot summit (4,300 metres) of the Pikes Peak mountain.
MAX BMW Motorcycles, which has dealerships based in New York and New Hampshire, sent two riders on a 4,000-mile (6,500 kilometres) road trip to participate at last year’s Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. Competing alongside the BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory squad (which fielded a five-rider team of Gary Trachy, Casey Yarrow, Micky Dymond, Greg Tracy and Markus Barth – who secured the top five 1200cc class positions on the HP2 Megamoto) Team Max BMW riders Gordon Mullavey and Max Stratton finished in sixth and seventh places respectively on their HP2 Enduros.
For 2008, TEAM MAX BMW has selected several riders representing a range of experience levels to take on the challenge of the ‘Race to the Clouds’. MAX BMW principal Max Stratton returns to Pikes Peak hoping to improve on the time he set last year, when he rode a stock HP2 Enduro up the famous hill. The 34-year-old from North Hampton has extensive hill climbing experience in his rally car, but enjoyed his first Pikes Peak International Hill Climb so much last year that he will be trading four wheels for two and will be returning to the Colorado Rockies again this July – only this time he will ride a rally-prepped HP2 MegaMoto.
Following in the footsteps of older brother Max and clearly showing that motorsport competition runs in the family will be 26-year-old Ben Stratton, who will be riding at Pikes Peak for the first time. The General Manager of the MAX BMW Motorcycles dealership in Brunswick, New York, has already had some race success this year, with a solid third place at the ‘Rally Tennessee’ in May. Ben will rely on an HP2 MegaMoto to propel him up Pike’s Peak.
Two of MAX BMW’s customers will also be joining the team for the challenge of Pikes Peak. Although this will be Doug Morrison’s first hillclimb event, the 50-year-old Geologist from Walpole, Massachusetts, is a veteran motorcycle racer who has also been a New England Enduro Champion. With considerable success in many off-road events, such as the Sandblast Rally and the Rally Tennessee, Doug sold his KTMs when the HP2 Enduro was launched. A vintage BMW rider and MAX BMW customer, Doug will pilot a rally-prepped 2007 HP2 Enduro at Pike’s Peak on 20 July.
Another MAX BMW Motorcycles customer is Joe Warner, who made the jump from ‘punter’ to competitor in 2007 when he was introduced to RallyMoto (the motorcycle equivalent of automobile stage rally, similar in format to the World Rally Championship, where riders have to navigate public and private roads interspersed with timed, full speed sections called ‘stages’ or ‘specials’). The 43-year-old Service Manager was the first rider to register in the 1200cc class for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. His off-road race results get stronger with every event and he recently came runner-up in the ‘Production 1’ class at this year’s Rally Tennessee. For Pikes Peak, Joe will ride a 2007 HP2 Enduro rally-prepped by MAX BMW Motorcycles.
One of the many attractions to racing at Pikes Peak is that it’s a multi-day event with practice sessions each day leading up to the race on the Sunday. The hillclimb takes over the city of Colorado Springs for a week and the atmosphere is electric. Factory teams with the newest machines park next to amateur hillclimbers, all with their own reasons for competing in this historic race. Many of the competitors have been coming to the event for years, which draws diehard spectators from all over the world. On race day, around 25,000 enthusiasts line the road, cheer, wave flags and take pictures, and the scene looks more like a stage of the Tour de France than a typical North American motorsports event.
According to MAX BMW Motorcycles’ Max Stratton, there has been a great reaction by the motorcycle community to seeing the big BMWs competing in the ‘Race to the Clouds’.
“The 2007 event included the inauguration of the 1200cc class, which attracted a factory-backed effort from BMW Motorrad,” said Max. “Most of the bikes are smaller displacement dirt or supermoto specimens, so the motorcycle fans were blown away by the size and style of the BMW Megamotos and HP2s. We met a lot of BMW riders and MAX BMW mail-order customers from across the US who decided to come and lend their support, and even if they will never compete in an event like this, we try to give them something that they can relate to and hopefully provide some entertainment value along the way.”
Each of the BMWs competing at Pikes Peak is customer-owned and has been rally-prepped by MAX BMW Motorcycles for the Atlantic Cup RallyMoto series. Rally preparation typically includes suspension upgrades and/or tuning, additional engine and component protection and wheel set-up for the different surfaces encountered in RallyMoto. For Pike’s Peak, the primary consideration will be tyre selection. Last year, Max Stratton and Gordon Mullavey used ‘Michelin Rains’, which performed well on both the gravel and tarmac sections. No machine adjustments were necessary to compensate for altitude and the HP2s performed well from bottom to top. In fact, with the exception of a supermoto wheel combination, Max rode the 2007 hill climb with a completely stock HP2 Enduro.
All the BMW riders in this year’s race will be hoping that they will be the fastest on two wheels up this awe-inspiring mountain in the Colorado Rockies. And as Max, Ben, Doug and Joe climb high, they know that they must be in top shape simply to finish – let alone win – as the thin air slows reflexes and saps muscle strength, plus it also robs engines of 30 per cent of their power at the summit. A combination of bravery, outstanding riding skills and perfect machine set-up are vital for any chance of success, so we wish them all the best of luck.