The nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb and Peugeot Sport will compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 30 this year. The Frenchman will tackle the world’s highest hill climb – which reaches an altitude of 4,301 metres – at the wheel of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak. This menacing looking car has been specially engineered and built by Peugeot Sport. The event marks the French team’s return to the classic American event after its memorable victories there in 1988 and 1989.
The exterior styling of the car does resemble the production model, but the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak was tailor engineered and designed to meet the specific needs of the famous American event. The car and driver will compete in the ‘Unlimited Class’ which doesn’t restrict technical specifications to cars.
Today more than 150 drivers get behind the wheel in a host of sometimes implausible vehicles to take on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the world’s highest competition of its sort and America’s oldest motorsport fixture apart from the Indy 500. The principle behind the so-called ‘Race to the Clouds’ is simple and involves each competitor taking turns to drive the 20km course that twists its way along the mountain’s flanks to reach its summit at 4,301metres in the shortest time possible.
