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Carnet de côte : Grégoire Blachon établit un record diesel ; Codie Vahsholtz de Woodland Park remporte la roue ouverte
062623-sports-PikesPeakHillClimbPractice03.JPGLe pilote de la division illimitée Robin Shute tourne le dernier virage de sa Wolf TSC-FS 2018 avant de se diriger vers la ligne d'arrivée lors de la Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb dimanche. Timothy Hurst, La Gazette▲
CHAMP DE CARSON carson.field@gazette.com
Mis à jour 26 juin 2023
Dimanche s'est fait attendre pour Grégoire Blachon.
Le pilote français de 38 ans a établi un nouveau record diesel (10:25.071) lors de la course de côte internationale de Broadmoor Pikes Peak. Il a terminé 19e au classement général et quatrième dans la classe exhibition.
"C'est très, très spécial", a déclaré Blachon. "Il a fallu cinq années de travail acharné et de mise en place pour parvenir à cet accomplissement, donc je suis très excité."
Blachon avait couru quatre autres fois à Pikes Peak avant d'établir le record, et il était satisfait de ces performances. Mais dans tous ces cas, quelque chose s'est mal passé avec les conditions ou la route, ce qui l'a fait chuter au classement final.
Mais cette fois, aucune de ces malheureuses choses ne s’est produite.
"J'ai enfin pu rattraper mon retard sur tous ces défis", a déclaré Blachon. « J'avais de bons résultats ; Je n’ai tout simplement jamais eu l’occasion de le faire.
Scott Birdsall a établi l'ancien record d'exposition diesel en 2020, en terminant en 11:24.065.
Avant la course de Blachon, Cole Powelson a battu le record de Birdsall avec un temps de 11 : 06,535. Mais quelques courses plus tard, Blachon a dépassé le record brièvement détenu par Powelson.
Désormais détenteur du record de la course de côte, Blachon a hâte de revenir sur « la montagne de l'Amérique ».
"Ce n'est qu'un début", a déclaré Blachon. "Je veux continuer à construire ça."
Local finishers
Codie Vahsholtz was the top finisher from Colorado. The Woodland Park native finished fifth overall and first in the open wheel class.
Vahsholtz raced in the Hill Climb in the motorcycle class for nine years before the Hill Climb removed it. Since then, he has competed in open wheel, and he won the class last year.
Next from the Pikes Peak Region was Dan Novembre of Colorado Springs. Novembre, seventh overall, was second in the unlimited class. Jeff Zwart was the only other Coloradoan to crack the top 10, as the Aspen native finished ninth with a time of 9:46.131.
Hill Climb Newcomers
Sylas Montgomery was the top rookie, finishing 11th overall.
A Sonoma, Calif., resident, Montgomery finished in 9:55.993. Montgomery’s time was good enough for third in the open wheel class.
Less than two seconds behind Montgomery was rookie Duncan Cooper, who finished 12th. Cooper placed third in the unlimited class.
Five other rookies — Mike Widdett, Hayden Bradley, Nuno Caetano, Hutton McKenna and Robert Robles — finished in the top 30.
Remembering Ken Block
Pikes Peak paid tribute to Ken Block on Sunday.
Block, who died in January, was a staple in rallycross, as well as motocross, skateboarding and snowboarding. He competed in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2005 and was slated to in 2022 before engine failure led him to withdraw.
In the first PPIHC since Block's passing, his relatives fulfilled his legacy.
His widow, Lucy, drove a 2024 Sierra Echo in the unlimited division, finishing 40th overall. Lucy had never raced in the Hill Climb, but she fulfilled her goal.
"I just wanted to make it to the top," Lucy Block said.
Though she didn't compete, Block's daughter, Lia, drove her father's "Hoonipigasus" Porsche up the Pikes Peak Highway ceremonially after all 67 competitors had completed their races.
Lia and Lucy embraced each other, both shedding tears, once Lia completed the circuit. And after that, the two took a group photo with every other driver in the field.
Scary moments
In an otherwise clean race, Matt Mullins crashed before the first checkpoint and did not finish.
Mullins appeared to hit a tree, causing damage to his front-right wheel and windshield. A tow truck had to remove Mullins’ car from the tree.
Though scary, Mullins walked away with no injuries and embraced his family at the starting line.
In addition to Mullins, nine other drivers did not finish for a variety of reasons.
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