Sebastien Loeb demolishes Pikes Peak record with an 8:13.878
Sun, 30 Jun 2013
Normally we'd wait for a recap to do this but the news is just too big. Everyone knew Peugeot and Sébastien Loeb came to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to do something impressive, but taking one minute and 33 seconds off last year's record is unprecedented. Rhys Millen set the time to beat in 2012 with a 9:46.164. Loeb just ran the mountain in 8:13.878, which not only makes him the only member of the Eight-Minute Club ever, it beats last year's record by more than 15 percent.
More perspective: Millen followed Loeb and set a time of 9:02.192 at an average speed of 79.677 miles per hour, meaning he took almost 44 seconds off his own best time and still came in second by 49 seconds, due to Loeb's average speed of 87.471 over the 12.72-mile course.
As they say in France, a mighty Chapeau! to Peugeot and the man behind the wheel. We're atop the mountain right now and everyone here has been saying that this could mean the Seven-Minute Club isn't far away. We have a feeling Peugeot will get to enjoy this one for a while, but we'd love to see another manufacturer take up the challenge. Audi, anyone?
Reminder: You can follow the action live here, and see the results as they update in real-time here.
By Jonathon Ramsey