SO short story:
from 2013 no more co driver allowed for safety reasons. Bikes with side cart can have an extra guy.
There for for me no PP . We had everything together to run this event , and we had planned out everything. I was sooo exited about it.

They told me with co driver you cant really learn the road if someone talking to your ear, and i would be slow anyway.

So this is in short. On the Face book page of th IPPHC you can find the topic if you care.

Rob

I hope Mt Washington will be run again in 2013

 

That sucks.

If you run Mt. Washington, I will definitely come watch!! I live about an hour from Mt. Washington.

 

I just talked with Paul ( orgenizer) and he said if he doesnt going to have a conflict in time, since he also does Vermont motorsport and rally America etc. the they will have another MtWashington. The Mountain want it already

The pikes peak guys really hostile and , besides they comment like co driver dangerous and we are too slow etc. Really turned me off. I never met anything like this before.
You can sense they try to avoid the last year accident, and since i am a rookie for them with a co driver and with an Evo , makes them nervous.
Well i dont have to drive there at least .. lol

 

yeah, rhys set the qualifying bar very high last year. you'll have to drive the wheels off your car and modify it a lot to make it faster just to qualify.

 

I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to make it to the PPIHC. As I'm reading thru the rules for 2013, I notice the repreated phrase, "as approved by the Director of Competition." Considering Colorado is 1,500 miles from here, it's a log way to get there and get turned around over some technicalities....

I'm planning for 2015, but who's to know when there isn't a hard fast rule set about cages and the Director of Competition makes all the calls.

 

that is a most frightening part. I know the Evo from last year didnt pass the inspection with a first shot and they had to reweld things or what not. So if you wont find a helping hands there what you do, go home?
Besides looks like they are really dont know whats going on when it comes down to rally cars.
Not unsusal in the states LOL that is why i like to attend to hillclimbs.

But Pikes peak is out for me. I even had media guys coming out form eu etc. It was a nice project.

 

These rule changes really have people in an uproar.

Rob, why would you not run without a co-driver?

 

because i literaly wouLd have to rebuild the car. + retune it etc. also there is lots of money comes in the car from the codriver. so i do have to ask her put even more money in it, when she has to stay a side + i should say to her after that: stay home honey i will call you...?

plus as i said in the chat. they can over rule ANYTHING in the rule book by they personal feelings.... I mean when did you ever heard anything like that before? So why is a rule book, why not a guide line for pikes peak?
ALso based on they co-driver decision , to make the race "safer" and they explanation is why they do that , just plane dumb and unprofessional. Shows a huge gap in knowlidge with motorsport period.
ETC.

nope PP looks like slowly become a NASCAR of the hill climbs which i have 0 interest.

AS i said for a little more money we will do WRC Mexico hopefully in 2014. PP was for only fun, and a reason i was thinking to doing it because i was "invited " nicely some PP racers. Specially after Mt Washington. Also it sounded really bitter when they told me i would be slow and i wouldnt make the qualifer anyway....
So why i bother... I mean yes i am slow but that obvious? LOL

Good thing despite they believes, there is many hillclimbers and orginizers have faith in me.
And some things which are back it up too...

So no PP is not for me. If too many thing shows a negative sign , i dont want to be there, specially if i am the one who actually have to finance it.

 

I can understand having to tell your wife that she can't come play. That is a good reason right there.

I guess i'm a bit confused. Why would you have to rebuild the car? Is there a rally class that you would enter? I'm not sure i'd consider you slow!

 

What its going to come down to this yeaIMO, is that the entry process is going to be much more scrutinized. They are just not going to let as many people enter and that will solve alot of problems. They don't want to kick people out for not keeping up with Rhys Millen, they just want a good race. And they want people to come back over and over again to learn the hill and THEN be competetive.

I knew we were in for some changes!

 

thanks Jeremy. But there is NO rally class without co driver. Its like Baseball game without ball.

About the car if i have to take out the seats radio etc , then why would i have a 30 lbs seat base etc. so this thighs would just slowly pile up. Then restrictor off, more power- retune... it is basicaslly would open a can of worms. Then after the race put everything back together... It would cost time and money which in my opinion pikes peak wont worth from the begin with. For fun, with unmodifyed rally car and set up i would do it. But to put that much effort in it? Nope. I drove nice roads in the Swiss alps and in EU in general. So for me is not a big of the deal.
I talked to Paul , and he said Mt Washington,might will happen again. So that is a more challenging road already, as i heard from veteran PP drivers. So as you did , right? LOL

Anyway, only thing is bothered me , the time i spend on it for nothing, and real miss information and knowlidge about rally cars and co-drivers. I dont mind to not running it, but why people spread false and really stupid informations when they dont even have a clue clearly what they talking about? That is what really bothers me. And top of that they really think they know...

Did you heard this before?

"Stephen Hawking : The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge"

 

Rob - I know sometime's there's a bit of a language barrier, but I want to set a few things straight.

You are quoting me as though I speak for the event. We chatted a bunch on FB today...hoping you realized that was me. When I made some suggestions, it was in the name of being a straight shooter - letting you know what you're signing up for.

PPIHC has a rule that if you don't run within 115% of the time of the fastest guy in your class - you get sent home with no chance to make a run on race day.

I've been running "rally" cars at PPIHC since 2007. One year in a 323 GTX and 5 years in our Evo. It started out as a rally build but as the pro teams got faster, we realized that to make the cut, a standard rally car would no longer suffice. Looking at results from this year, it takes a 3000 lbs 500hp AWD car to make the cut. Marcus Gronholm himself strapped into your car (or mine with a restrictor installed) wouldn't make the cut. Jamie in the M3 was really the lone exception to posting excellent results in a normally aspirated car. I can't remember if he would've made the 115% cut, but he posted just over 12 minutes in the rain on race day - one hell of a great drive!

None of this information is meant to belittle you or your racing efforts. You've done great things with your Evo X, but you've had a different set of rules that you've raced with. To be competitive at PPIHC since there is no rally class will likely involve a pretty big investment...waaay more than I'd care to admit.

In relation to my comments on co-drivers. I believe co-drivers can make the event safer and for many of us, more enjoyable, and yes, even more affordable thanks to cost sharing that many teams do. What I was trying to say is that for a novice who hasn't had extensive practice at writing pace notes and working with a navvie...add in a hugely powerful car and there's a ton of stuff that novice driver must be able to process in short order. I have no idea what actually led to the 5 or 6 accidents in cars which had co-drivers on the hill this year...but I'm sure that's what the organizers would tell you was the basis for their decision.

Anyway, long story short - PP has been an awesome race and I've loved just about every minute of it with my wife by my side. I'm not sure what 2013 holds for us, but if MWHC makes a comeback, we may come play in your back yard.

Dave

 

No i know realized that is you Dave ... lol

First of if they want safety then how they can set a standards to only one time which is a factory backed up guy.... if that would be a case or standards in racing, motorsport wouldnt exist today. Also if you are rookie how you can run yhat hill safe with that speed?
ETC. There is many many gray area in those rules and the organization.

I cant speak english, but that doesnt mean i am stupid.
How you can expect a safe race if you have to be faster then a multiple wrc world champion with his wrc car as a rookie, with no co driver and in general?
And so on and so forth.

They agenda to keep the hill for themselfs and the reserve the right for that reason to kick anybody out without explanation need. It is basically summs it up.

They say not because the last year accident, but all the rule changes is basically around that class and entry....
They dont want everybody blame them. Which is i DONT. It was a plane and simple racing accident. And the cause of it was a organization structure, and the racing rules .These new rules wont stop that.

I mwhc will happen next year, and i hope i will see you there

Its a great hilk where actually the skill matters more then hp you will love it!!!!!! If you need any help around the event feel free to ask, even for service etc. I try to orgenize things so i can help you on that around ne.

 

Rob, don't forget that MW did the exact same thing your talking about here. Just the other way around. I almost didn't get into the race because they basically were catering to the Rally guys and the local VT hillclimbers. I had to run in open class just because i didn't run any VT hills before. I was not in an open car and was a perfect fit for the H4 class. (which i wouldve won!) I also had to spend quite a bit of money making my car legal with a restrictor. So, i really don't think this is much different.

I understand that it would take a bunch of work to make your car a PP hillclimb car. I wish they would have a class for the less modified cars out there so that the normal average racer could actually be competitive.

It again goes back to what this race and HC's in general are all about. There are not many places that you run what you brung! If that mean's that it takes a 500whp AWD car to be able to race then that's what you need. Is it right? Ehhh, probably not, but racing is not fair alot of the times.

Jamie is the perfect example of what a good driver in a less then needed car can still do tho. He was right there in practice times! Well, realative to anyone but Rhys and Randy. And, i don't think they will have a field if they only let pro's or people that can run sub 11 min times only.

 

1st off, there many cages and cars that didn't pass tech inspection. The top of our cage had some places that were not welded. And honestly, did not effect the integrity of the cage. It just one of the letters of the rule you have to follow. As with any race series. You have to make sure your car is in compliance, if it's not then don't be surprised if you are not allowed. Either way, I didn't see anyone booted on a whim and I don't see why they would do that to you.

Now back on topic.

PS, you should still try and make the race if you can!