Colorado Springs, CO — Thirteen Porsche-built sports cars will anchor the 49-car entry list for Sunday’s 98th running of the “Race to the Clouds,” including a Porsche 935-19 that will be driven by 8-time winner Jeff Zwart.
Photo: Larry Chen
Zwart, a 2018 inductee into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum Hall of Fame who has run the event 16 times in 12 different Porsche models on all of its surface iterations — full dirt, half dirt/half asphalt and full asphalt — successfully tested the car at California’s Willow Springs Raceway earlier this summer. Read more about Zwart in a Racer.com story from July.
“I have been coaching the Porsche GT4 Clubsport class at Pikes Peak the last few years and I wanted to continue coaching but also race again this year,” Zwart said. “So I needed something that wasn’t too complicated to run. Underneath the 935 bodywork and Porsche Motorsport chassis, there is basically the Porsche 911 GT2 RS road car which allows it to be a full ‘turn key’ race car with plenty of power.”
Porsche first appeared in the PPIHC in 1958 and got its first class win in 1960. Since then, the marque has captured 27 class victories and twice turned the fastest time for the overall win. This year, it will contend in four divisions.
The PPIHC will take place without fans for the first time in its history, but Mobil 1 will offer live streaming of drivers’ runs — along with play-by-play commentary from motorsport announcer John Hindhaugh, host of Radio Le Mans — on the Mobile 1 Facebook (@Mobile1) page from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. MDT.
And before the action gets underway, watch the first installment in PPPIHC’s new Mastering the Mountain video series as 2019 winner Robin Shute offers commentary on his winning run.
The first Pikes Peak Hill Climb was run in 1916 on a gravel circuit carved up to the Mountain’s summit. By 2012, the full 12.42-mile, 156-turn circuit was paved over, up to the 14,115-foot pinnacle. The race itself starts at the seven-mile marker, giving competitors a 4,725-foot elevation change during their timed run.
