Aussie second in Pikes Peak cliffhanger
But it was an agonising runner-up finish: just 0.6 seconds behind the winner!American-based Aussie motorcycle journalist Rennie Scaysbrook has again finished second in the 156-turn, 12.42-mile Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.
Aboard his KTM 1290 Super Duke R for the second year in a row – and the bike that saw him eclipse the famed 10-minute mark in 2017 – Scaysbrook completed the 96th running of the event just 0.6 seconds behind the winner, Carlin Dunne (Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak). It was Dunne's fourth victory in the event.
“Congrats to Carlin for taking another win at Pikes Peak. To lose by 0.6 seconds after 10 minutes of mountain racing is hard to take. That’s racing, I guess,” said Scaysbrook on his Facebook account.
Scaysbrook completed the course at an average speed of 72.025mph, and his time was 9:59.794. Dunne’s average was 72.108mph as he stopped the clock at 9:59.102.
Third overall was last year’s winner Chris Fillmore, who was riding the all-new KTM 790 Duke.
Related reading
2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke R launch review
2018 KTM 790 Duke launch review
Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s electric I.D. R now holds the record for the fastest ever Pike Peak pass, after Frenchman Romain Dumas completed the course in 7:57.148 – the first driver under eight minutes.
Sebastien Loeb held the previous record of 8:13.878 in a Peugeot 2018, which was set in 2013.
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