~ Auto Buzz ~: Team Cycle World Returns to the Clouds Looking back at last year’s successful effort at Pikes Peak; looking forward to a whole new program with Victory Motorcycles and RSD.

Friday, 8 May 2015

Team Cycle World Returns to the Clouds Looking back at last year’s successful effort at Pikes Peak; looking forward to a whole new program with Victory Motorcycles and RSD.

A year ago, I was a rookie at the 92nd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. I entered the event as a guest rider filling an open seat on the Falkner/Livingston Spider Grips Ducati Team. Expectations were rather relaxed, and team principal Paul Livingston made it clear that I was to focus on a safe and enjoyable experience. While I appreciated the sentiment, I’m a racer. Nothing short of a personal performance that I would be proud of would do. Witnessing the tireless effort of the Houston-based AF1 Racing crew tending to the Ducati Multistrada 1200 that I rode only fueled my resolve. A relaxed joyride to the summit of America’s racing mountain was never in the cards. As it all unfolded, we were third-quickest on race day, posting a time not far off that of class winner Jeremy Toye on a Kawasaki ZX-10R and Ducati 1098R-mounted Frenchman Lambert Fabrice.

Like many unique race events, Pikes Peak gets under your skin and begs you to return to action. I think 13-time PPIHC class winner and GNC veteran Davey Durelle said it best as we spoke at a pre-race competitor’s dinner last year: “On this mountain, we are always chasing the elusive perfect run.” And there you have it. The desire to improve my personal best is like a gravitational force drawing me in for another go. But CW’s return to the clouds in 2015 carries an entirely different dynamic, making this year’s effort compelling on several other levels.

While I have an idea of what to expect, the Victory Project 156 prototype I am to ride is untested. It has a prototype engine (built by an American manufacturer that has never gone roadracing) fit into a one-off chassis fabricated by a talented custom builder who has never set foot on the mountain. I identify with the optimism and competitive spirit of Project 156 (named for the number of turns on this 14,110-foot mountain). Once again, I am cast in a rookie role—that of development rider. In the coming weeks, initial testing begins with a couple shakedown days at a local road course followed by two weekends of sanctioned practice on the mountain in early June. This all leads into race week at the end of the same month. Hopes are high as Project 156 races into the unknown. Aim for the sky!