The third time is a charm for Romain Dumas. Dumas powered his Norma MXX RD Limited to a third Pikes Peak Hill Climb overall title Sunday.
The win, his third in the last four years, came after a year of preparation. Dumas won in 2014 and 2016.
He took the green flag Sunday morning but soon after the start of his run, he was slowed due to a broken spark plug. He had hoped to score a record run of under 9 minutes, however his time 9:05.672 was still good enough for the overall win.
“It’s difficult to put words to this victory,” said Dumas. “The primary objective was to win, which is what we did and it’s never easy here. Never. I even questioned whether I’d get to the summit. The second objective was to get closer to the outright record. After the practice days, we had a decent idea of what kind of overall time was possible. But unfortunately, this will remain a hypothetical time after the broken spark plugs, and that’s disappointing. We got first place, but we wanted so much more that I’m unable to feel completely satisfied today.”
Dumas will return to competition later this summer with the FIA RGT Cup. After winning twice in class at the Monte Carlo and Corsica rallies, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0l will take part in the Barum Rally.
