Sebastien Loeb absolutely obliterated the old record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a blistering run of 8:13.878 today in Colorado. He beat the previous record of 9:46.164 by over a minute and a half.
Loeb, previously known for winning the World Rally Championship nine times in a row (a record in its own right), was piloting a Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak, an 875 horsepower four-wheel-drive monster.
A proper round of congratulations are in order to Sebastien, as any motorsport world record is a commendable claim, but Pikes Peak is especially unique. With 156 bends over the 12-mile route and steep drops over the sides, the mountain hill climb tests the nerves of anybody who comes across its path.
A much lesser round of congratulations, I suppose, is due to his sponsor, Red Bull. They did a great job promoting the race, but so far the comments surrounding their broadcast have been a bit, well, unkind:
Between the moroons with microphones and the crappy broadcast, with all the drops, I feel more sorry for the listeners than for the guys that have gone down on the bikes.
No doubt this is unwatchable.
Is it too early to complain about how horrible the guy on the summit of the mountain is at interviewing?
I don't know, but it is comically bad.
is too early to complain about those two guys talking and talking and talking on screen while a race is going on?
Better luck next year, Red Bull. Though I do believe that credit where credit is due, they did actually broadcast the race. Good on them.