Last year, Ducati was rocked when its longtime record as fastest motorcycle up the Pikes Peak Hill Climb was shattered. Experienced superbike racer Chris Fillmore shattered the record aboard his KTM 1290 Super Duke with a time of 9:49.265. Ducati decided to respond.
Return of the King—PPIHC Edition
Carlin Dunne wasn’t too happy about Ducati’s record getting beaten either. He had piloted the Ducati Multistrada 1200 into the record books in 2012 by becoming the first motorcyclist up the hill in less than 10 minutes. So, when Ducati put together an effort to retake the Peak, Dunne seemed like a natural fit. However, putting together a winning race effort is slightly different from putting together a record-breaking effort.
On June 24th, the Race to the Clouds kicked off once again, and Carlin Dunne came in first among all the motorcycles. However, with a time of only 9:59.102, he did not break the all-time record. Rennie Scaysbrook came in second place overall and in the heavyweight division. Codie Vahsholtz—Dunne’s teammate—came in third in the heavyweight division but came in fourth overall. The first-place rider in middleweight division not only beat out Vahsholtz overall, but he came away with a record for the middleweight class.
Chris Fillmore returned to Pikes Peak aboard a KTM 790 Duke, winning the middleweight division and setting a new record with a 10:04.038 time. That means Fillmore holds not only the fastest time up Pikes Peak in the heavyweight class, he holds that same record in the middleweight class.
If Ducati is going to win back the record on Pikes Peak, they have a long fight ahead of them. In the meantime, Chris Filmore may start contemplating a lightweight ride for 2019. If he beats the lightweight record, he could be the fastest rider up the mountain in all classes.
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