The final Sunday of June each year brings racers to the Rocky Mountains outside Colorado Springs, where the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb takes place. Ranging from a start point well above sea level to the apogee of this 14,115-foot summit, racers compete against time and one another to garner awards in a myriad of classes.
This year’s 101st edition of the Hill Climb features cars, trucks, motorcycles of all capabilities – same with the drivers – all of whom wish to burnish their brands. Car manufacturers get into the act as well, and many will be on-site to perform. Not only is the Race to the Clouds good for public relations, but it can also aid in development of road-going cars, especially those sold in mountainous areas like central Colorado.
One of those brands is Honda’s luxury unit Acura, which is bringing four cars to race up Pikes Peak, hoping to conquer the 12.42-mile mountain course that actually begins at 9,390 feet and soars to completion at the mountain’s summit. Two of the cars Acura is bringing to this race are Integra race cars, as one of the most successful Acura cars makes its comeback after years in automotive purgatory. Acura is also bringing a burnished TLX and a wild NSX Type S Active Aero Study. All of these vehicles are production based.
As important as the cars are for Acura, so, too, are the drivers. One of the Integra Type S race cars is intended for Loni Unser, the fourth generation racer whose family is synonymous with success on the Peak. Unser is driving an HPD Integra Type S in the Exhibition division. Loni’s father Johnny has raced in the Indianapolis 500; the Unser family has a total of nine Indy 500 champions, four for Al Unser, three for Bobby Unser and two for Al Unser Jr.
The Unser family were the first clan to race in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, when Louis and Joe Unser competed in the 1926 version that was all dirt. Through the three generations of Unser family members, the crown as King of the Mountain went back to the Albuquerque region where the Unsers made their home 26 times! Loni Unser made her Pikes Peak debut last year in the 100th edition of the Climb, finishing an impressive second, racing a Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport in the Trophy class.
Acura engineer Paul Hubert is back for a second year behind the wheel of an Integra 1.5T built by the Honda of America Racing Team (HART), a regular entrant in this race. Pikes Peak veteran and fellow Acura engineer Jordan Guitar also returns in a TLX Type S also built by HART. Both Acura engineers will be racing in the exhibition class, while James Robinson undertakes the Time Attack class in a HART-constructed 2022 NSX The S Active Aero Study, the fourth entry from Acura. Robinson’s NSX was built for maximum aero performance on the mountain.
The Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study is the next project, after the Honda CR-V “Beast” from a skunkworks at HART called Crazy New, whose mission is to dream of and build unique concepts. It’s a creative playground for Honda associates. This particular NSX Type S Active Aero Study is nicknamed “Yamabiko”, referencing a folkloric Japanese mountain god or spirit. This Aero Study features front and rear carbon fiber bodywork that decreases the NSX’s weight by more than 200 pounds; it also features enhanced engine management software and, for less unsprung weight, forged HRE rims.
The HPD Integra Type S has a custom hood and front splitter, a custom swan-neck carbon fiber rear wing, a Borla exhaust and special Yokohama tires. HART’s Integra 1.5T has Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs, an HPD TCA suspension kit, HPD billet engine mounts, Borla exhaust, Aero undercover and OMP racing seat, steering wheel and safety harness.
Not only is Acura racing to the clouds on the final Sunday in June, but it’s providing the pace vehicle for the 101st Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The HART TLX Type S pace car is going to be driven by NTT INDYCAR SERIES Dale Coyne Racing with HMD racer David Malukas. He’ll enjoy the larger turbocharger, added engine cooling, a retuned engine, transmission and SH-AWD system software. The suspension on this TLX Type S has been lowered by an inch and brakes feature race-compound pads. The modifications to this street-going machine add up to a diet of more than 600 pounds that includes the use of a carbon fiber hood and composite front splitter, rear wing and dive planes.
This upcoming weekend marks the final Sunday of June, as July begins next Saturday. The current course record of seven minutes, 57.148 seconds over the 12.42-mile fully paved course was set in 2018 by Romain Dumas. The French ace drove a purpose-built, all-electric 2018 Volkswagen I.D. R.
Pikes Peak has been used as a proving ground of emerging automotive technology since its 1916 inception; the race has missed only the two World War years, one time when there was a wildfire and by the COVID-19 pandemic.This year’s Grand Marshal is Hurley Haywood, the first driver to record five Rolex 24 at Daytona victories.
By Anne Proffit
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