Third Pikes Peak win for Robin Shute in fog so thick, 'I couldn't see the dash'

Robin Shute blasted through thick fog in the 2022 Pikes Peak Hillclimb to claim a hat-trick of victories, although the course record still eludes him

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Robin Shute celebrates third Pikes Peak win

Shute celebrates his Pikes Peak hat-trick

Larry Chen Photo

Britain’s Robin Shute completed his hat-trick at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado, USA on Sunday. The California-based expat, who hails originally from Norfolk, won for the third time in four years in his Wolf TSC-FC Unlimited class sports racer.

Poor weather conditions, especially towards the summit of the 14,115ft mountain, ruled out any hopes of challenging Sébastien Loeb’s internal combustion engine record, never mind Romain Dumas’s overall mark set in the electric-powered Volkswagen ID R. But at least this year Shute was able to race up the full 12.42-mile climb when last time the top section had to be closed, and he can now reflect with satisfaction on a job well done.

“The fog got so thick it was just survival driving”

Speaking to Motor Sport on the day after his victory, Shute was typically understated about his remarkable achievement on an illustrious event that dates back to 1916. “It was a good one,” he said. “Obviously no records, that was never really on the cards on this day. But it was really fun to race on the mountain in tough conditions – and then towards the end it was really hard work. Now upon reflection it’s a cool thing.”

As he admitted, “preparations didn’t go completely to plan” in the run-up to the race. As Pikes Peak is a public road, the drivers and riders are only able to tackle the mountain in sections and get just a single run over the full 12.42-mile course, on race day itself.

“We had a fire on the first day on the mountain at the start of the month and that really put us on the back foot,” Shute explained. “That meant the time we’d allotted to put the new diffuser on got eaten up with those repairs, so unfortunately we didn’t have the full aero package on the car.”

The aero upgrade he’d planned would have added around 50 per cent more downforce. But the benefits of other additions for 2022 did pay off. “Still the car was obviously very competitive. What was fantastic were the Yokoham Super Formula tyres we had from Japan. They really were a step up in performance. Combined with the our new R53 suspension meant we could push hard and it made a really big difference.

“But we had lots of little issues that cropped up, which meant we only had five of the 10 days running on the mountain – so only half the time we actually ran in practice. We were a bit behind where we wanted to be.”

Still, the potential of the 2.1-litre Honda turbo-powered Wolf was proven in qualifying, run over the lower section, when Shute did claim one record. “We managed to do a 3min 24.519sec qualifying time, which was a couple of seconds faster than Loeb’s [set in 2013 in Peugeot’s 208 T16], so that’s the second-fastest ever [after Dumas] and the fastest internal combustion time. I think there’s a low 3min 20-something in the car.”

From the archive

The conditions on race day immediately ruled out any hopes of beating the race records. “Once we saw the weather, the approach was basically about not taking any risks. We knew we had a lot more pace than everyone else. The tyre choice was clearly wets and that’s what we ran, and it was the correct decision.”

Watch his onboard run via YouTube (above) and it’s all too obvious how challenging his climb turned out to be. From a rainy start, conditions suddenly clear – before heavy fog set in the higher he climbed. For the final miles his visibility was almost down to zero.

“For the last runners it started to dry out, but they still had some of the fog,” he says. “It definitely made it nerve-wracking watching the times come through. Those who qualified poorly had a much better chance in the race. Derek Boyd put in a flier in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. He’d qualified way down but ended up fifth overall and was fastest over the last sector. Rod Millen was also matching his son Rhys’s times in the first two sectors. If you look at the top 10 there are a lot of Pikes Peak legends in there. It was great to see and great to be a part of that.”

Shute’s winning time was 10min 09.525sec, almost a minute slower than his first victorious run in 2019. But he was well clear of the rest. David Donner was second overall in his Porsche Turbo S in a time of 10min 34.053sec, with David Donohue – son of Penske legend Mark – third (and first in the Time Attack class) in 10min 35.830sec in a GT2 RS Clubsport.

Rod Millen returned to Pikes Peak in his famous Toyota Tacoma, in which he scored two of his five overall wins, and ended up eighth overall, two places behind son Rhys.

Rear view of Robin Shute Wolf on the Pikes Peak hillclimb in 2022

Wolf in the fog

Larry Chen Photo

Robin Shute on Pikes Peak hillclimb in 2022 practice

Conditions were clearer in practice

Wolf of Robin Shute in hairpin on Pikes Peak hillclimb in 2022

Full aero package must wait until next year

“I really enjoyed the run up to about marker 16,” said Shute. “From there the fog got so thick it was just survival driving and that’s never great fun. Me being in an open-top car, you’ve got the added issue of the fog misting on your visor. It was OK when you were going fast, the visor would clear, but as the fog got heavier and you slowed down the visor wouldn’t clear. It was very difficult to see where I was going. I lost a good chunk of time in the last sector, 15 seconds off some people when I had been almost a minute up on them before that.

“I played it safe and made sure I got to the top. I couldn’t actually see the dash on my car, that’s how bad it was. I was following the lines on the side of the road. I knew roughly where I was, but I’m not yet able to do it with my eyes closed, unfortunately…”

Still, a hat-trick at Pikes Peak. Not bad for a chap from Norfolk. And of course, he’ll be back to have a proper crack at those Loeb and Dumas records next year and for seasons after, if the weather gods look kindly upon him in future attacks on the great mountain.

“Overall I think we had the pace to beat the Loeb time [of 8min 13.878sec],” he says. “In terms of the ID R time [7min 57.148sec], with a more refined set-up, the full aero package and maybe a little more power we’ll be there or thereabouts. We’re looking good for our goal. We’re chipping away at it.”

Next year, Robin. Keep your fingers crossed for the 101st.

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