Team 928 Motorsports finished this year's Hill Climb in a podium position
Fausett/Hamacher finish in excellent 3rd Place at the 87th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
After arriving on Monday with a well-prepared and thoroughly tested car, we were expecting an easy-going week with little to no trouble. Registration and tech inspection took place on Tuesday morning, so that we could drive Pikes Peak Highway ahead of Wednesday's practice and refine our notes from previous years. Using a rental car, we drove up and down the mountain several times until we felt well prepared for the first day of practice.
For practice, the competitors are separated into three groups, each one practicing a different section of the track on each of the three practice days. On Wednesday morning, it was our turn to practice the paved middle section, which contains the famous “Ws”, a series of tight switchbacks with enormous drop-offs. With more horsepower and troque than in 2008, we shaved about 20 seconds off previous year's times and left the mountain with confidence.
The situation changed rather drastically when on Thursday the engine died after we unloaded the car from the trailer in the morning and started it. We suspected that the engine had been flooded when Carl revved up the engine and tried to restart - to no avail. Push starting didn't work either, so the decision was made to tow the car uphill with the support vehicle. After about a mile of unsuccessful efforts, we pulled over at Halfway Picnic Ground to change the spark plugs. However, the car would still not start, no matter what we tried. Eventually, we towed the racecar back downhill to Crystal Reservoir, where we usually unload the racecar from the trailed and proceed uphill with only the car and support vehicle.
We were hoping to resolve the issue and then practice with the competitors in the lower section, even though the Pikes Peak Open class was practicing in the top section of the mountain that day. However, we could not determine the cause for the problem before end of practice session at 8am and loaded the car on the trailer in order to take it to the shop of our sponsor, Concours Cars of Colorado Springs, where diagnostic tools would be available.
Several more hours of work at Concours Cars lead us to the source of the problem, a burned out engine control unit, or ECU. We had no choice but to order a replacement from the manufacturer in Virginia, which would not arrive in time for Friday's practice session. As result, we would miss two of three practice days, and therefore not be able to test the new tires and bigger wing on the gravel sections, a clear disadvantage. Nonetheless, the problem had been located, so we only needed the replacement ECU, plug it in, and start the car.
That turned out to be a false assumption. The ECU was delivered on Friday morning, but the car still would not start after we plugged it in. That was a big setback, since none of us had any idea what to try next. Virtually every component of the engine management system was tested using oscilloscopes, crank signal simulators, and all kinds of equipment. Luckily Concours Cars is a very well equipped shop, so we were able to run virtually every diagnosis known to man. Eventually, we concluded that the wheel that triggers the crank sensor had shifted on the flywheel. This possibility had been ruled out before because the trigger wheel is heat-shrunk onto the flywheel, so the possibility of it moving had been ruled out. Once we pulled clutch and flywheel, we found that this diagnosis was correct. So the correct position of the trigger wheel was marked and the assembly given to a machinist, who would mount everything correctly, using set screws.
Entering the first leg of the "Ws"
Hence, we were able to bring the car to Fan Fest in downtown Colorado Springs. Concours Cars had sponsored an exhibit space for us, and we didn't want to miss that opportunity to show off the car and generate business for our generous sponsor. Decked out with matching shirts, pants and hats, the 928 in deed attracted a lot of attention. As did the BMW 2002 model race car, the red Cobra, and the orange Lotus that Concours Cars had brought. We all had a good time, knowing that the properly mounted trigger/flywheel combo was already sitting at the shop.
So on Saturday morning, the crew drove back down to Concours' shop to mount the assembly and finally start the engine - not. We were surprised and frustrated. What else could be wrong? The ECU manufacturer suggested there may be interference from some other electrical system in the car, which seemed illogical because the engine ran flawlessly for months before Thursday's practice. Carl and I left to drive the track a few more times and refine our notes, while the crew stayed back to work on the problem. At around 5pm, we received the text message from the crew that the problem had been solved and the engine was running well. What a relief!
Having not practiced on gravel was a big concern, even though we felt strongly about the car setup, based on the Wednesday practice session. All we could do was to focus on bringing the 928 to the top, no matter what. Since we did not post a qualifying time, which is set in the lower section, the first starting position in our class was assigned to us. (Competitors run slowest to fastest on race day.) So the Vintage Cars and Time Attack would be ahead of us, sweeping the course, while all 4-wheel drive cars as well as the Pro Trucks would be behind us. A good starting order, we figured, since the latter have a tendency to throw lots of dirt on the road because they cut corners all the time. We were confident.
Luckily, only a couple of incidents happened, so the race was not much delayed by the time we got to race. (2008 was aweful in that regard.) However, just before our start, rain clouds moved across the bottom section – enough to wetten the pavement, but not enough to clean it from oil and other slippery stuff. The race was halted, leading to a delay, while the sun was still shining on the top half of the mountain.
Near the end of the "Ws"
After the rain, Rhys Millen ran as last competitor in the Time Attack class before it was our turn. Carl put down a lot of rubber right from the starting line when he performed a nice burn-out, much to the delight of the fans. After that, we had to be really careful through the turns because the road was still quite wet in patches, making of unpredictable road conditions. Once we reached the gravel just after Halfway Picnic Ground, Carl showed his talent by drifting around most turns, pushing the car to its edge. At the Ski Area, the car ran a bit wide so we almost hit a bunch of crazy spectators who were sitting in their camping chairs on the road, apparently waiting to be removed from the gene pool. (Some jumped three feet in the air down the embankment, as we later saw on the in-car video.)
Having negotiated this section well, we reached Glen Cove, where the paved middle section starts on which we had done so well in Wednesday's practice. We continued to race as hard as possible, and Carl hit the line exactly the way we had discussed – not an easy task, considering that one drives “straight into the sky” in many blind turns in that section. (Big Cojones are required.)
At Devils Playground, the track turns back to gravel. We had heard that the top section was extremely dry and thus very slippery, so this section had to be raced with caution. Carl kept driving as fast as the tires would allow, even slightly drifting in the tricky Bottomless Pit corner. We noticed a drop in voltage an power (the alternator belt had come loose for some reason not yet determined), but the car still ran well enough to slide sideways through turns. Lots of dust floated around in the car; so much, I had to shake it off my notes. Once we reached the straights before the Cog Cut hairpin, we felt that we were going to make it to the top. And a few turns later we did. What a great feeling!
So how about our competition? Since we had been first in our group to run the course, some time went by before all results came in. A lad from the radio station that covered the event had a computer with access to the PPIHC website and read the times aloud when they had finally been posted. With a time of 13:46 min, only the two 4-WD cars of Carapetyan/Kneipp and the Kerns beat us, as expected, and we beat Pikes Peak-regular Dave Schmidt by 45 seconds.
About the “Race to the Clouds”
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports race in America and a long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. First competed in 1916 and this year marks the 87th running of the "Race to the Clouds."
The race is run on a 12.42 mile course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,110 foot summit of America’s Mountain; Pikes Peak! As the drivers climb toward the summit, the thin air slows reflexes and saps muscle strength. The thin air also robs engines of 30% of their power at the summit. Competitors and vehicles must be in top shape simply to finish...let alone win!
This year the race had 11 classes featuring a variety of automotive, semi truck, exhibition, open wheel, super stock car, pro truck and motorcycle classes with a field of about 160 competitors.
The 928 at “16 Mile”, entering “Devils Playground”
Team 928 Motorsports finished this year's Hill Climb in a podium position
