PIKES PEAK 2011
6/29/2011 Toshiking Races to the Clouds
Toshiki Yoshioka takes 3rd place at the 89th running of one of America's oldest racing traditions.
On the weekend of June 24th, 2011 we participated in the 89th running of the Pikes Peak
International Hill Climb (PPIHC). PPIHC is the second longest running annual race in the
United States taking place in Colorado Springs, Colorado. PPIHC is internationally known
as a grueling test of endurance, skill, and precision engineering drawing out competitors
piloting various vehicles from different parts of the world.
Preparation for the race was done with a 2000 Drift Speed Nissan S15 Silvia. A vehicle
that has been carefully modified for this particular race to compete in the time attack 2
wheel drive class. Being as this was my first time doing a race of this magnitude, and
going against seasoned veterans such as Rod Millen, figuring out a way to stay
competitive would be quite the challenge.
We had 3 days to practice the course. During this time we dialed in the suspension for
the various road conditions we would encounter (about 50/50 gravel to pavement).
Another issue we had was with the elevation change. With a starting line elevation of
9,390ft and finishing with 14,110ft, we found it absolutely necessary to tune the ECU for
such altitude change. With such scarce air conditions the car only put out somewhere at
350HP when it originally was tuned at about 500HP at sea level. All this coupled with
trying to memorize the 12.42 mile, 156 turn course proved to be a big task.
On race day careful observation of the weather would tell us that we needed to monitor
our tire pressure very closely. As race day rolled through we noticed that it started to
warm up which was what was predicted for that day. This allowed us to plan how we would attack the course which was to be less aggressive at the lower sections of the
course and save that much need grip for later. At the end of the race we managed to get
a time of 11 minutes and 33 seconds. I have attached links to race results/information
and I would like you to have a look.
We would like to thank all of our sponsors and supporters for making possible a truly
successful and exciting race!
Team Toshiking Racing
Toshiki Yoshioka
Pikes Peak racer was powered with:
20w/50 SR-5 in the engine and 75w/140 SGO in the rear diff.
Other links:
Result
Day 1 – SpeedHunters
Day 2 – Speed Hunters
Day 3 – Speed Hunters
Day 3 – Auto blog
Gazoo news
Yahoo news
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