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Chip Yates’s Track Notes from Pikes Peak

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The course for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is 12.42 miles long, includes 156 turns, and goes from 9,390 ft at the starting line to 14,110 feet at the finish. Learning the course can take years, mastering it even longer, and considering that many of the higher elevation turns have sheer drop-offs with no guard rails, mistakes are not an option. To keep all of the turns straight, and to come up to speed as quickly as possible for his rookie year on Pikes Peak, Chip Yates constructed a crib sheet of notes on Pikes Peak.

With the actual notes sheet about four feet long and two feet wide, Chip’s track notes are more like conquistador’s map to the summit, and from what he tells us…he can redraw the whole thing from scratch, blind-folded, while jumping out of an airplane with not parachute (well, maybe he can just draw and annotate the whole thing from scratch). Check out Chip’s notes on racing to the clouds after the jump, and click the photo for the life-size version that aided him in his double-record run.

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On-Board Chip Yates’s Electric Superbike at Pikes Peak

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Chip Yates claimed two records at the 89th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: the most powerful motorcycle ever to race on the mountain, with 241hp, and the fastest electric motorcycle ever to finish the 12.42 mile climb and its 156 turns. Finishing with a time of 12:50.094, Yates not only smashed the previous electric motorcycle record by over four minutes, but also raced to the top of Pikes Peak with a very respectable time on a motorcycle, even for a rookie.

In the video you can see how much time Chip loses in the dirt section (he was officially the 97th fastest out of 112 racers in that section), though on the paved sections showed true speed (9th fastest overall on the first section of asphalt). With Pikes Peak to be completely paved for its 90th running in 2012, Yates and his crew will have a leg-up on the competition for further dropping the mountain’s fastest pace, and for showing that electrics can compete, and even best, their internal combustion engine counterparts. Click pas the jump to see Chip’s record run on the SWIGZ.com Electric Superbike.

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Racing

PPIHC: Carlin Dunne Smashes the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Motorcycle Record – Declared Rookie of the Year

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Asphalt & Rubber spent the last week waking up at 2am everyday to muster up to the staging grounds for the 89th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and upon arriving at the second oldest running race in the United States (the Indy 500 being the oldest), we were surprised to see our old friend Carlin Dunne, owner of Ducati Santa Barbara, pitting in the motorcycle paddock with a Ducati Multistrada 1200 race bike.

Now, we’ve always known that Carlin was a wicked fast rider, as this humbled author recalls that at his last track day with Dunne just a year ago, the 28-year-old dirt and street racer lapped him about every third lap at Big Willow. Despite this fact, the hard part has always been describing to other people how fast Dunne truly is, that is until now.

Riding Pikes Peak for the very first time, Carlin Dunne not only stood at the pole position on Sunday’s race to the clouds, and not only did the Santa Barbara native also win the checkered flag in the 1205cc motorcycle class, but the Desmo Devil himself dropped some two-wheeled knowledge on Pikes Peak when he set the outright fastest time ever for a motorcycle on the fabled mountain road and its 156 turns.

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PPIHC: Chip Yates Races the Most Powerful Motorcycle Ever on Pikes Peak – Sets New Record for Electric Motorcycles

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Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.com crew were on hand at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this past week, racing the team’s 240+ hp electric motorcycle. An event that highlights the advantages of electrics over internal combustion engines, Pikes Peak saw not only the most powerful motorcycle ever to race its 156 turns, but also saw its electric motorcycle record time fall under Chip’s throttle hand. Blowing the previous record of 16:55.849 set by John Scollon out of the water, Yates posted a respectable under time of 12:50.094, which would put him well above the median of the super-fast Supermoto 450 class, and fourth in the heavyweight 1205cc class.

Pleased with his result, Yates was hindered by the dirt section and nearly 600 lbs motorcycle. Still, the up-beat competitor views the 89th annual hill climb as paying his dues for when Pikes Peak becomes fully-paved for its 90th running in 2012. “I felt bad for the fans that watched me through the dirt section. They saw an electric superbike going 1 mph around the hairpins in the dirt,” admitted Yates to A&R. “After the dirt section though, it’s called Glen Cove, it goes paved again, and there’s some tight twisties were I can kind of hold my own.”

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Racing

Video: Chip Yates Practices for Pikes Peak

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In just a week’s time, Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.com Pro Racing crew will be headed out to Pikes Peak to compete in the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC). At 14,110 feet tall, and boasting over 156 turns, Pikes Peak features some of the scariest turns on the planet, no better exemplified than with the “Bottomless Pit” corner which boasts a 3,000 foot sheer drop down the mountain. Yates will of course be racing his 240hp electric motorcycle up the hill climb course, and will have a distinct advantage over his ICE competitors, as the extreme altitude won’t affect the fastest electric pizza delivery bike in the slightest.

We’re really excited here at Asphalt & Rubber for Chip’s participation in the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, not only because we like Chip’s mantra of taking ICE bikes head on with his SWIGZ.com racing machine, but also because we think the PPIHC is the ideal event to showcase how electric motorcycles have actual advantages over internal combustion engines. Starting at roughly 9,400 feet, ICE bikes will be already down on power at the start of the race, and will only continue to lose power as their engines struggle to breath on the 12.5 mile race to the clouds (electric bikes of course aren’t meaningfully affected by the thinning air at altitude).

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News

Ducati Gearing Up for Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

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There are a number of things this summer we’re pretty pumped about here at Asphalt & Rubber, two of which are are the upcoming Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and the release of the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Edition. Part Formula 1, part World Rally Championship, there’s something about a race course where one wrong move in a priceless no-limits vehicle can send you over the edge of a 3,000 foot cliff that we find intriguing (yes, we have issues). So naturally this summer we had to put the PPIHC on our calendar, just one of the many bucket list items we’re attending to this year.

Another thing that gets us pumped is the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Edition that the Italian brand built after last year’s PPIHC race. We rather enjoyed the Ducati Multistada 1200 when we tested one back in 2010 when the bike first came out. But when we saw the first photos of the MTS1200 that the Spider Grips Ducati Team built, we picked up the phone to the folks at Ducati North America, and said “you have to build this bike!” We doubt our insistence had anything to do with the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Edition being released, but it warms out heart that Ducati is doing a limited edition run of the machine.

So it goes without saying that footage of both Pikes Peak and the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Pikes Peak Edition makes us happy, and eagerly await the run up the mountain later this June. Our product lust is in full-swing at this point, and that fact that this is really well done video spot doesn’t help matters further. Check it out after the jump, along with some photos of the racing replica MTS1200.

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Ducati Puts the Kibosh on Multistrada 1200 S Corse Rumors

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If you’re one to believe a recent filing with the California Air Research Board (CARB) and those pesky internet blogs, Ducati is set to bring a “Corse” version of its Multistrada 1200 to the United States. While we like anything named “Corse” that’s from Italy, we weren’t sure exactly what a 2012 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Corse model would look like in reality, considering in the past the Corse line has been comprised of some go-fast parts, and the Ducati Corse paint scheme.

Since that’s essentially the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Pikes Peak Special Edition in a nutshell, we reached out Ducati North America to see what the lowdown was on this apparently new model (which our sources forgot to tip us off about) that will likely be making the rounds on the interwebs today. The answer is frighteningly simple: it’s what the company was going to call the Pikes Peak edition if they didn’t get the nod from the famed mountain race to use its trademark. Sorry folks, nothing to see here.

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Ducati Headed to 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

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Along with the news of the the 2012 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Special Edition (try saying that three times fast!), Ducati North America has announced that it will again compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Being held this year on June 27th, Greg Tracy and Alexander Smith will again be riding for the Spider Grips Ducati race team as it looks to be the fastest two-wheeler up the mountain.

While you likely already knew all this information if you read our piece on the Pikes Peak Multistrada 1200, what this news really means for motorcycle enthusiasts is more great photos and videos from the SoCal crew. To help us get pumped up for the 2011 PPIHC, the Spider Grips Ducati guys and gals have already put together a promo video that recaps the 2010 season. Enjoy it after the jump.

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Bikes

Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Special Edition

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UPDATE: According to Ducati North America the United States will not get the carbon fiber Termignoni exhaust can, and instead will feature a numbered badge on the engine crankcase cover. Pricing is $21,995, available June 2011.

Helping celebrate Ducati’s heavyweight class win (and 2nd place overall) at Pikes Peak last year, the Italian company has released the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak Special Edition today. We’ve been saying that Ducati needs to build a Pikes Peak Special Edition of the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S since…well, since we first laid eyes on the beautiful machine a year ago. Launching the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak today though, we’ll have to find something else to pester the Italian company about, but that’s fine by us.

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Tackling Pikes Peak, as Seen Through the iPhone 4

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Pikes Peak Ducati rider Greg Tracy has posted a quick documentary on his blog today that shows a behind the scenes glimpse of racing to the clouds at Pikes Peak (and winning). On-board the Pikes Peak Multistrada 1200S, along with teammate Alexander Smith, Greg set the second fastest two-wheeled time up the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

In the footage we get to see the Tracy’s talking about the family rivalry, as well as the dangers of riding Pikes Peak. With a Cameo appearance by Rhys Millen, this is a very well done clipe. And for bonus points, it was all shot on an iPhone 4. Check the video out after the jump.

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Ducati Multistrada 1200S Wins Class at Pikes Peak

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Racing to the clouds this weekend, Team Spider Grips Ducati took a comfortable class victory in the 1205cc Pikes Peak motorcycle group, racing on the special Pikes Peak Ducati Multistrada 1200S. Finishing 50 seconds ahead of second place finisher Walker Pew, Greg Tracy was the second fastest motorcyclist overall on the mountain (the fastest bike being in the 750cc class). Tracy’s run continued a strong showing for Ducati at the Pike Peak International Hill Climb, and was 13 seconds off an overall win motorcycle on the mountain.

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