VW Touaregs topped the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
In the steep uphill race wars, Michigan-based olkswagen of America, Inc. proved that it has the strongest contenders as it bagged the top seats in the 85th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) last weekend.
The Germany-established automobile company entered two V10 TDI Touaregs with professional drivers Ryan Arciero and Mike Miller behind the wheels. Another Volkswagen entry was the V6 TDI Touareg driven by Chris Blais. All three participants were able to get the top three spots in the High Performance Showroom Stock division of the said event. Arciero, which marked a new record for the diesel engine ride at 13:17:703, went home with the title, while Miller (13:25:247) and Blais (15:48:312) took the second and third places, respectively.
“The Volkswagen team put in a lot of hard work during practice and qualifying and it paid off in this historic race,” said Arciero. “The V10 TDI is an amazing motor, and the Touareg chassis is so well balanced that it performs more like a true race car than a premium SUV. Shaving nearly a minute off last year’s record time is a true testament to this vehicle’s capability.”
All went well during the event proper, however, motorcycle racer Blais encountered a pre-mechanical setback in the first practice session on the mountain. The Volkswagen team immediately backed up and helped Blais and was fortunately still able to compete.
“Working with Ryan, Mark and the entire Volkswagen Team to compete at Pikes Peak was an incredible experience,” said Blais. “The Touareg is an impressive vehicle, and no doubt the all-wheel drive system helped me with the transition from two to four wheels. I was really pleased that my times improved with each run up the mountain.”
A first-hand point of view of the race can be seen at http://www.vwvodcast.com. The Touaregs successfully reached the summit of Pikes Peak which has an elevation of 14, 100 feet.