Ducati races to the clouds

As it gears up to defend its title in the FIM-endorsed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Ducati has released a new video designed to whet the appetites of adventurous riders everywhere.

In 2010 Ducati won the world-famous event thanks to rider Greg Tracy and will release the Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Special Edition to celebrate and the company is also cognisant of the fact that it's harder to defend a title than win one.

The Italian motorcycle maker will be pulling out all the stops in 2011, when on June 26 hundreds of thousands of people will watch as brave competitors begin the 20km course at an altitude of 2862 meters (9,390 feet).

Greg Tracy and Alexander Smith will be contesting the event for Ducati, and the Multistrada Pikes Peak Special Edition gets a Ducati Corse-style paint job to signify its rarity, along with passenger foot peg hangers and engine guards finished in anodised black.

While the bike won't be making its way to Australia, other features include new Termignoni carbon fibre exhaust, new screen and a Ducati Performance carbon fibre front mudguard and custom made seat, and the fact that it has won a Pikes Peak suggests that it has impressive pedigree on the road and off it.

If you haven't heard of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, it's basically an incredibly arduous race against the clock up one of the steepest mountain passes you're likely to see. Check out the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb website for the official spiel.

So extreme is the journey towards the 4305 metre (14,115 feet) peak that riders and drivers have trouble breathing as the oxygen thins out towards the peak, and even some vehicles struggle to operate at the high altitude.

Combine that with the fact that many vehicles have been custom built to withstand the rigours of the course, which is usually ridden/driven at a break-neck pace, and one wrong move will see competitors hurtling off the edge of a cliff, the "Race to the Clouds" as it's sometimes called, is not for the weak willed.

The event has been run since 1916 and is FIM-endorsed and the course covers both tarmac and dirt surfaces, which can be a real challenge for the motorcycles and car competing.

The 20km course has 156 turns and rises 1439 metres (4721 feet), so competitors and their vehicles must withstand the rigours of a very steep ascent.

The fastest time was set in 2007 by a significantly modified Suzuki Vitara XL7, which recorded a time of 10:01.408 up the 20km course.

Located within the Rocky Mountain range, near Colorado Springs in Colorado, the event is always heavily populated with competitors, as there are more than a dozen classes to race in: