Jeff Zwart isn’t really sure but says he’s probably covered around 1400 competitive miles at Pikes Peak since his first race outing there in 1989. Given that the course is 12.42 miles, that’s a lot of trips up the world’s most famous hillclimb.
A businessman working in television media, Zwart got into Pikes Peak through work, albeit indirectly. “We did a lot of TV commercials for car companies, and one of the stunt drivers we used was Rod Millen. Me and Rod used to have a lot of fun together on jobs, just screwing around with rental cars and so on; then at one point in the late 1980s, he said to me, ‘You know, you’re pretty good at this. You should give it a go properly.’ … Pictures and more
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is simply legendary. It first ran in 1916, when other motorsport monuments such as Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix hadn’t even been thought of. But while the first competitors were true pioneers, and the Unser family ensured its status in America through the 1950s and ’60s, it was in the ’80s when Pikes Peak found international renown, when manufacturers such as Audi and Peugeot became involved.
Audi first came to Colorado’s motorsport Mecca in 1984, when Michele Mouton scored the first of her two victories here in the Quattro … More