Ducati Reclaims Heavyweight Title At 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Last year, Ducati lost the heavyweight Pikes Peak title to KTM but this time, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer made it right by setting a new record for the two-wheeler heavyweight class with the Multistrada 1260. The Spider Grips Ducati Pikes Team consisted of Carlin Dunne and Cody Vahsholtz and it was Carlin Dunne who secured the record with a time of 9:59:102 minutes. This is Ducati's seventh victory at Pikes Peak since it started participating in 2008. Dunne held the all-time Pikes Peak record from 2012-2017 when he 'raced to the clouds' on the then newly launched Ducati Multistrada. This is Dunne's fourth victory at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Also Read: Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak Edition Launched In India

"We did it. We took the podium," said Dunne, who notably was the first motorcyclist ever to traverse the 4,720-foot Pikes Peak race course in less than 10 minutes in 2012. "The Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak proved as amazing as we all hoped. It performed flawlessly, giving me everything I needed to get up the mountain. Pikes Peak is never an easy race, but the weather cooperated and we clinched the victory for Ducati."

(Carlin Dunne, set the new record for two-wheeler heavyweight category on the Multistrada 1260)

The second position went to Rennie Scaysbrook, who was astride a 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke R. The difference between the first and the second placed riders at the Pikes Peak heavyweight title was barely 0.692 seconds where Scaysbrook completed the run in 9:59:794 minutes. The second rider for Spider Grips Ducati, Cody Vahsholtz finished third with a time of 10:12:703 minutes.

This was the 96th edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and the 19.99 kilometre long stretch of mountainous road reaches a maximum altitude of 4,300 metres or 14,110 feet. The course has a total of 156 corners.