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Tesla Wins Exhibition Section of 2021 Pikes Peak Race

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The Exhibition class is for vehicles that don't meet the requirements of the other classes. Arguably the closest to production vehicles is the Time Attack 1 class. Time attack 1 is for production vehicles with restrictions on what can be modified.

Exhibition Class:
"specifically to "demonstrate advancements in the practical application of motor sports technology", the race encourages competitors with vehicles that do not meet the technical specifications of PPIHC sanctioned divisions to enter in the Exhibition Class"

Time Attack 1 Class:
"The Time Attack 1 Division includes modified and specialized production-based two and four-wheel drive vehicles. Eligibility is restricted to close-bodied four-wheeled vehicles and must maintain their original OVM configuration as delivered pertaining to air/fuel delivery, number of cylinders, number of drive wheels and drive wheel location."


This beetle was in the exhibition class and I don't think it would be considered production.

 
Its sad the Bentley GT is still ahead when its more OEM than plaid
A Continental GT speed (their fastest model) weighs 2273 Kg.


A Continental GT3, designed for endurance racing, weighs "significantly less than 1300 kg" and has an aluminum body. It makes 550hp in race trim.


Then Bentley turned up the wick on the race car to over 750HP for Pikes Peak.

Yesterday's Bentley is to their street car like NASCAR is to your typical Chevy.
 
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None of the cars running up pikes peak are stock. They all have modified suspension, aero, brakes, etc. All weigh a lot less than their factory equivalent just based on the fact they are required to have completely stripped interiors.

I would argue the closest car running this weekend to the Plaid was the 911 GT2 Clubsport. They are factory modified 911 GT2 that are setup for racing. They have modified aero, stripped interiors, and tweak suspension and brakes. They are about as close to a production 911 GT2 as the Unplugged Performance Plaid is to a production Plaid Model S.

Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport - Porsche USA

Looking at the times the GT2's performed exceptionally well. I would expect that next year the Plaid could come a lot closer to the GT2 times with some more time making upgrades and dialing in the performance. The Plaid obviously has a huge advantage of no horsepower loss at altitude. The GT2's lose about 20-40% of their horsepower depending on their elevation along the course. But at the end of the day the Plaid is a big heavy EV and won't be able to over come that disadvantage anytime soon.

Good showing by Randy, although I did expect that Plaid to be a little bit faster.
 
I still can't get over how a guy in his mid-60's is racing on the most dangerous race course in America in the fastest production car ever built! I wish I had whatever he has that drives him to do it at that age! When I was in my 20's, sure. I was up for anything that had anything more than a 0% chance of survival. Mid-60's, I don't think I'll even want to watch someone doing that!
 
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Looks like Pobst prefers a round steering wheel.

I’m a bit disappointed with the plaids performance actually. It has a huge hp advantage along with AWD and torque vectoring and it’s not affected by atmospheric pressure losses. It should have moved higher in the standings. A 1996 BMW M3 beat it by 10 seconds for 9th place overall.
Make no mistake- this "1996 BMW" is an all-out race car, which happens to be driven/owned by James Clay the owner of bimmersport, he's probably got over 1 million into it.

Man (And M3) Versus The Mountain

And check out James Clay's steering wheel :)

Videos
 
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