Monster Tajima-san breaks the 10 minute mark on the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb

If you’ve been following the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) in recent years, then you’ll be aware of world-renowned driver ‘Monster’ Nobuhiro Tajima who has held the climb record since 2007, with a time of 10:01.408.

If you’ve not heard of Colorado’s Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, then let me provide a 5-minute induction via the award winning short film, “Climb Dance”, which documents Ari Vatanen’s record-breaking run at the 1988 event in his four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer Peugeot 405 T16.

Monster Tajima-san is a legend in the international motorsports community with nine series wins in the All Japan Dirt Trial (rally sprint) Championship, five wins in 2WD division for the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, and eight overall victories in New Zealand’s “Race to the Sky” hill climb event.

Since his record breaking run in 2007, Monster has been trying to break the 10 minute mark and it’s this, more so than a victory, which has spurred him on.

For 2011 he’s being sponsored by the world famous GoPro cameras – makers of those nifty HD HERO® cameras and accessories that you’ll see fitted throughout leading motorsport events from the Le Mans 24 hours to British Touring Cars (BTCC).

The 2011 Monster Sport SX4 Hill Climb Special is powered by a 3.1-litre Twin-Turbo Monster Special V6, producing no less than 910 bhp. Tajima-san’s 2011 car was shaped in Monster Sport’s own wind-tunnel where it was optimised for the higher speeds of the PPIHC’s modified road surface, which now consists of more smooth tarmac and less gravel than in previous years.

Nobuhiro Tajima said before his PPIHC run, “Having received massive support from GoPro this year, one of my dreams will finally come true: I can truly share the experience of attacking Pikes Peak at full racing speeds with my fans.

I used several GoPro HD HERO cameras on my car at Pike’s Peak in 2010 and fell in love with the cameras. I’ve always wanted to share the feeling I get with others of ultimate speed and perfect drifts at various corners along the mountain, but I have not had this chance because my car doesn’t have a passenger seat!”

It didn’t take long for Monster Tajima to delight his fans – less than 10 minutes in fact…

Yesterday the veteran driver set a new world record of 9:51.278, breaking his 2007 record by more than 10 seconds and claiming his sixth consecutive overall win. We’ll have on-board footage from Tajima’s GoPro cameras in the next few days, in the meantime we warmly applaud the legend that is Monster Tajima.

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At a Glance

Pos	Driver	Veh #	Finish Time
1	Nobuhiro Tajima	1	9:51.278
2	Rhys Millen	67	10:09.242
3	Jean Phillippe Dayraut	3	10:17.707
—	Dave Carapetyan	959	DNF
—	Paul Dallenbach	98	DNF

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Gallery

Photo source: Yujiro Otsuki via www.monster-sport.com