This Saturday, big rig racer Mike Ryan will attempt to beat his own record time of 12.46.81 in his hand-built Mercedes Benz-powered Freightliner Century Class S/T Super Truck at the 84th annual Pikes Peak

International Hill Climb.
Also known as The Race To The Clouds, The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second-oldest motorsports event in the U.S. after the Indianapolis 500. Ryan is currently the record holder with a total of five records and eight wins. Many consider this be one of the most challenging courses anywhere in the world. The course runs 12.46 miles through 156 turns, climbing nearly one mile in elevation to reach the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak.
The run up the mountain is mostly dirt with no guardrails, making for extremely challenging driving conditions
Competing against Ryan in the big rig class is four-time New Zealand B Class Truck racing champion Shane Chapman. A former record holder of the Queenstown, New Zealand, Race To The Sky Hill Climb, Chapman took second place at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2000.
He will be racing a 2004 Panoz Racing chassis, equipped with Haldex water-cooled air brakes. Power comes from a 14-Liter Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine, heavily modified with twin turbochargers. The engine produces 1,400 horsepower, and 3,000 pounds-feet of torque. Power is transmitted to the ground via a World Series Allison six-speed automatic transmission, and delivered through Michelin tires.
Ryan will be racing his one- of- a- kind Freightliner Century Class S/T race truck that was designed specifically for the hill climb. It’s equipped with a 1,250 horsepower Mercedes-Benz engine and has 2,700 pounds-feet of torque. The transmission is a ZF 5 speed that has been modified for racing. Suspension is a four-link front end and three-link rear end, much like a sprint car. With a weight of 8,000 lbs, speeds of more than 100 mph have been reached.
For more information, visit www.fastrucks.com.