#5　Four successive victories at 2009 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb are won!

As per a rule for the event, the fastest qualifier is allowed to choose where on the race order on race day that he wishes to run. Since I was the fastest qualifier, it was my choice to make. Various factors were taken into consideration; the weather, the road surface and temperature etc. I chose for the unlimited class to run directly after the vintage cars early in the morning to avoid any surface deterioration and make the most of the cooler morning temperatures. The unlimited class was to run in reverse order with the cars of Mark Rennison, Andreas Eriksson and Marcus Gronholm taking to the course before me.

After blowing an engine on the first day of testing and making hurried repairs over the final two days by freighting parts from the UK, the Ford RS200 of Mark Rennison qualified last and was therefore the first unlimited car to take to the mountain. Although completing the course, the time achieved (12:11.561) was indicative of his lack of testing time here and his comment after reaching the summit was “Pikes peak is a difficult race far exceeding expectations. Even though we had prepared for this event extensively, we were not able to prepare effectively for this challenge. Our lack of experience here has hampered us. This year was a year of gaining experience…we shall be back”

Next to take to the start line was the Ford Fiesta of Andreas Eriksson. Following a off road roll over on the second day of testing, his team worked day and night in order to repair his car in time for the start. Unfortunately Andreas was unable to practice on the final day due to this repair work. The final days practice being the beginning section of the course and soon after the start on race day, approximately 3km into his race run he was forced to retire again due to an off road incident, it is believed that this incident was tire related, maybe he hit something, we are not sure. This incident ended the 2009 campaign of Andreas Eriksson and his Pikes Peak challenge.

The third car to take the start in the unlimited class was the Ford Fiesta of former WRC champion Marcus Gronholm. Following the early retirement of his team mate, Marcus carried the weight of his team’s hopes on his shoulders. Even though Marcus was able to complete the course entirely, his time achieved of 11:28.963 was slower than expected and in a radio interview from the summit he was heard saying that the engine overheated in the second half of the course and the power dropped. His also complained of losing brake effectiveness with the rear brakes literally catching fire towards the end.

Finally I was able to take to the start line. We warmed our tires to approximately 70 degrees and moved to the start line. Anticipating a start soon after, I was dismayed to be held at the start by waiting for the helicopter to return to the beginning of the course. I was told to turn off my engine by the start official. Finally the helicopter arrives and I am given the signal to start my engine. I am thinking many things; how much temperature have I lost in my tires ? How much grip will I have ? Many cars before me have had problems so far, is there a problem with the road surface ? The clouds have begun to roll in, will the weather be ok for my run ? An uneasiness within me starts to spread.

Having the advantage of many years experience here, my strategy was to run the whole distance of the course with Safety First. Believing my engineers and mechanics and knowing that they had given me the best car for a record run, I put my car into first gear and following the green flag I let the clutch go and I was off. Immediately as I entered the first corner, the grip from the rear tires felt unsatisfactory and I adjusted my machine to stop the oversteer.

I compare with testing time and although my car is perfect, there is little grip in the surface. The first tarmac section I drive smoothly to preserve my tires. The next gravel section from the Picnic Ground is very loose, much looser than it was during testing and the grip level is low causing my car to slide easily. I attack the course carefully because of the heavy and deep gravel, there is little grip until I reach the halfway point of Glen Cove where the surface once again becomes Tarmac. I continue carefully preserving my tires on the tarmac surface. A continuous series of hairpin corners causes me to reach as low as first gear and I must be careful because it is very easy to spin my tires and cause them to wear out prematurely.

Next is the gravel section from the 16 mile point which we tackled on the second day of testing. Now, the surface is different to before, I can feel a lack of grip and I slide too much. The gravel is deep here now and unlike I have tested. As I reach the finish point I see a Japanese flag and take encouragement from the fans. My 2009 Pikes Peak Challenge has finished now as I pass the finish line and head to the paddock area where many fans and media personnel are awaiting me. I have an idea that my time achieved was not good enough to break the record and as I get out of my car to the many awaiting microphones and TV cameras I am told that my time achieved was 10:15.368 and asked for comments.

My reaction was that considering the road surface this year, the time achieved was not so bad. A record run was impossible in the circumstances. My team and my car were perfect all week and I had no other problems at all. Even though on my final run, I struggled with grip, my Falken tires performed extremely well and I was very happy to have had their support.

Soon after I finished my run, it rained quite heavily for a short period despite this being the middle of summer ! This is Pikes Peak and anything can happen. The course had to be temporarily stopped for safety reasons but continued soon after in once again changed conditions.

21 years have passed since I competed in my first Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and I was happy to have been able to use those many years of experience in this years event. My dream of breaking the 10 minute barrier has not disappeared and should I decide to return next year for the challenge it will be my 5th consecutive challenge for the record.

Even though my fellow unlimited competitors; Mark, Andreas and Marcus were unable to have a trouble free run this year, I sincerely appreciated them making the effort to come to Pikes Peak and I hope that they are able to return in the future. The other Japanese entries of Aikawa san and Hanawa san were also appreciated and helped make the 2009 event a truly international one.

I am pleased to retain the title of 'King of the Mountain' for 2009 and would like to return in 2010. I wish to thank all of my sponsors that have helped me this year and hope that they wish to return with me in 2010.

From Pikes Peak Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima	19 July 2009, Sunday

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NEWS - 87th Pikes Peak Hill Climb Final

Monster Tajima won the 87th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the four successive years.

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#4 The final day of official practice - the lower section of the hillclimb course.

The final day of the three day official practice for the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb began today. The lower section which is composed of approximately 40% tarmac and 60% gravel was run from the Start Line to "Glen Cove''. A distance of almost 6 miles or nearly 10km.

The weather is again fine but relatively cold because of the early start time of 0530hrs.

With our goal in mind being maximum performance on race day we began testing from the first practice run, again trying various combinations with tyres. This was the first and only opportunity that we have had to run on both tarmac and gravel surfaces at the same time.

The different surface combinations caused problems for many competitors and the practice session had to be stopped several times. This along with the length of the section meant that only three practice runs were possible.

After the first 'slippery' run for all competitors, the surface improved and the times also went up. Our final testing time was improved by over a second on last years time.
The tyre used for our first run was a 'buffed' tyre with approximately 4mm of tread removed. The resulting time was 4:44.046. For the second run we tried an 'un-buffed' tyre 'warmed' using tyre warmers to approximately 60deg C. The result was an instant improvement in initial grip and the final time dropping to 4:37.311. The final (3rd) run was done using a 'warmed' 'buffed' tyre but unfortunately due to an accident of another competitor we were waiting at the start line for too long and the benefit of the warmer tyres was not seen. A time improvement of only one second - 4:36.230 was the result and my thoughts were that the feeling definitely was not as good as on the warmer tyres.

Again the Ford Fiestas hit trouble in this section with Marcus Gronholm stopping under a cloud of white smoke at the finish point of his last practice run. The cause of trouble is unknown at this point but it appears that overheating may have caused damage to his engine.

The second Fiesta of Andreas Eriksson did not start the final day of practice, the damage from the previous day when he rolled over was still being repaired.

The Ford RS200 of Mark Rennison also was absent, he unfortunately only completed 4 corners of the first day in the 3 day practice session due to engine damage on the first day but it is expected that he will be present for the race itself.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is a rest day with no activity on the mountain. This is a time for teams to complete their car preparation and rest and recuperate. We hope that all the other cars will be able to run on race day and are keeping our fingers crossed for ideal conditions on Sunday when we will hopefully be able to achieve success again and set a new course record.

From Pikes Peak Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima	17 July 2009, Friday

#3 The second day of official practice - the upper section of the hillclimb course.

The second day of the three day official practice for the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb began today. The upper section which is composed of 100% gravel was run from 'Devils Playground' to the 'Summit'. A distance of approximately 3.5 miles or just over 5.5km.

This section of the course is a particular favourite of mine because it is 100% gravel ! Today the weather is fine but last evening it rained and the surface is still damp. It is quite easy to slide around and special attention is required because of this.

Since the practice session is held early in the morning (0530hrs - 0820hrs) and because of the high altitude, both ambient (approx 3deg C) and surface temperatures (approx 2 deg C) are very low. On this section of the course, snow remains year round and sometimes sections of the road can still be frozen even in the middle of summer !

Andreas Eriksson in the Ford Fiesta was caught out early on in the practice session. On his first run, he went off road after only a few corners and rolled his car into retirement for the day.

We began our test session cautiously with the aim being to test a number of different tyre combinations for the combined surface of tarmac and gravel on race day. The road conditions of the upper section had been improved over the previous year and we were also able to improve our test times and gain more confidence with regard to possibly setting a new course record on race day.

From Pikes Peak Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima	16 July 2009, Thursday

#2 The first day of official practice - the middle section of the hillclimb course.

The first of three days official practice for the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb began today. The middle section which is composed of 100% tarmac was run from 'Cove Creek' to the '16 mile' marker. A distance of approximately 2.5 miles or just over 4km.

We commenced practice with a car set-up created for the entire course even though the middle practice section was 100% tarmac and the course in whole is only composed of 45% tarmac and the remainder 55% gravel.

The tarmac surface temperature is six degrees and the weather is fine but cool. My experienced team are all working hard.

This is the first year in recent history that the unlimited class has had four competitors, all capable and challenging me for the overall win and a new course record. 'First timers' to the event - Marcus (Gronholm) and Andreas (Eriksson) had an eventful first day. Both complaining of a lack of power most likely due to tuning issues related to the high altitude. At one point during a practice run, the bonnet came up on Marcus car, blocking his vision - it must have been quite scary but he made it to the finish and it was fixed soon after.The third car to challenge me in the unlimited class was driven by another 'first timer' Mark Rennisson from England. It was a Ford RS200 heavily modified for this event and highly expected to see success here. Unfortunately Mark's car retired in a cloud of white smoke after only four corners on his first run, apparently quite serious engine trouble. It is still unknown what the cause of failure was or whether he will be able to continue.

Another interesting entry is the open wheel race car of US driver and regular competitor; Paul Dallenbach, rumoured to be sporting a new engine and tune this year, Paul set very good times during practice and is also anticipating breaking the 10 minute barrier! His car is well suited to the tarmac but possibly the gravel sections may still prove to be a challenge !

Japanese actor AIKAWA san and co-driver for this event; Fumio Nutahara were running well in their class and enjoying themselves !

Japanese ' off road' driver Hanawa san in the EV buggy also seemed to have a successful first day of practice with the team very pleased with progress made.

After a successful first day of practice on the Mountain for the "Monster Sport with BC" 2009 Hillclimb racing team, my goal now is to refine my set up even further over the next two days aiming for the optimum set up for the final race on Sunday.

Tomorrow's Day 2 of practice will see us on the uppermost section of the course which is 100% gravel. The altitude is much higher at over 14,000 feet so the set up and tuning of the car becomes so much more critical. It is only after Day 2 that I will have more confidence in my potential performance on Race Day.

From Pikes Peak Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima	15 July 2009, Wednesday

#1 July 14 Technical Inspection/Scrutineering Day

Ladies and gentlemen, hello from Pikes Peak in the USA ! Welcome to the first of my ‘live’ event reports from the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
This morning we completed event scrutineering / technical inspection of the Monster Sport SX4 Hillclimb Special race car. I am pleased to see that my teams’ many years of experience counts with every close inspection being passed without question.

The 2009 debut of Japanese actor AIKAWA san in the hillclimb has brought a lot more interest from Japan and there are many more Japanese spectators in comparison with previous years.
Also, the newly designed "Monster sports with BC" team t-shirt was proving to be extremely popular and many sales to US fans were made during tech inspection.
I will now go to check the course and do ‘recce’ - see you all on Day 2 !

From Pikes Peak Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima	14 July 2009, Tuesday