Last week Peugeot announced that it will once again compete at Pikes Peak in the Unlimited class, one of the most important hill climb events in the world, with a very special 208 T16. The event will take place on June 30, and will be the first time the nine-time World Rally Championship (WRC) winner, Sébastien Loeb, races in this event.
The mythical race, also known as the Race to the Clouds, already had another great rider to compete with a Peugeot. I am talking about Ari Vatanen in 1988, year he won the race. Peugeot had their last win there in 1989 with Robby Unser in the Open Rally division, which is the current Unlimited class.
Nothing was revealed about the power train, but if Peugeot wants to have a chance of winning they better come up with a engine that produces close to 1000PS (986hp or 736kW) and 1000Nm (738lb/ft) of torque.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has 19,99km (12,42 miles), 156 turns and starts at 1440m (4720ft) and finishes at 4300m (14110ft), with an average slope of 7%.
But Peugeot and Loeb aren't racing alone. Rhys Millen will return with an improved Hyundai Genesis Coupe to beat the record from last year. Enjoy the video of Ari Vatanen running a Peugeot 405 T16 in the record braking run from 1988. Pictures are from the "regular" 208 T16.
