For the ninth consecutive time, Mike Ryan has proven that he is the fastest in his hand-built Mercedes Benz-powered Freightliner Century Class S/T Super Truck.

At the 84th Annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, Ryan broke his current record by three seconds and finished with a time of 12.43.66.
This is a new world record in the big rig class for a sixth year in a row at the Race To The Clouds. Ryan made his run during the morning session before storm clouds set in. Rain, sleet, hail and lightning caused more than two hours of delays causing the course to be shortened in the afternoon.
The total score for Mike’s racing career is now 10 races, nine wins and six records, breaking his own record five times since breaking Sid Compton’s record of 15:48 in 1997.
Competing against Ryan in the big rig class was Shane Chapman, a former record holder of the Queenstown, New Zealand Race To The Sky. Chapman finished with a time of 13.36.32 in his 2004 Panoz Racing chassis. Despite transmission problems he managed to finish with amazing time. “Chapman ran a very impressive first effort. It took me many years to achieve this kind of time. We will have to up our game to stay ahead of him next year,” Ryan said.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports event in the United States. The course runs 12.46 miles through 156 turns, to reach the 14,110- foot summit of Pikes Peak. The run up the mountain is mostly dirt with no guardrails. Ryan’s top speed this year was 98 mph through the picnic grounds. The race truck has the capability of reaching 113 mph.