24h Le Mans
Anyone would have taken the time to celebrate his second victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but not Romain Dumas who, the very day after his win with Porsche and teammates Neel Jani and Marc Lieb, took off for Colorado to compete in the "race in the clouds."
Nicknamed as such for its precipitous climb reaching 4,302 meters, this year the Pikes Peak hillclimb is celebrating its 100th anniversary. In 2014, Romain Dumas became the third French driver, after Michèle Mouton and Sébastien Loeb, to win the famous hillclimb. Second at 17 thousandths from the winner during his first try in 2012, in 2013 Dumas was forced to retire after a few meters as a result of electricial problems.
This time Dumas' Norma experienced an engine breakdown during the final free practice on Friday at the upper part of the path, the more technical and dangerous as it runs along the precipice several times. The mechanical problem having occurred during the first session, the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner was unable to take his marks and will have to rediscover this portion on the day of the race, of which he will start in pole position.
Indeed, the French driver clocked the best time in qualifying which takes place on the lower part of the hillclimb. Last year's winner Rhys Millen is on his heels though, in his electric car, and will be hard to beat, especially since Dumas will be dealing with a bit of unknown following the engine changeout with which his team must proceed.
Good luck undermining the morale of a driver who has won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa, 24 Hours of Nürburgring and 12 Hours of Sebring: "An engine breakdown during the free practice is obviously not an ideal situation, but you have to deal with it. It's unfortunate because we had little by little improved the car on different types of circuits, fast on the bottom and slower in the middle. Rhys Millen is the clear favourite, but I'm not one to give up. We are going to fight with our weapons and our convictions. Pikes Peak is not easy to conquer. We know it. Sunday everything will play out and I know I can count on the motivation and involvement of my team."
Quotation from Romain Dumas press release. Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
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Photo: Romain Dumas is now taking on Pikes Peak after having won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last Sunday.
