News Release

Suzuki Makes it Four on the Trot at Pikes Peak HillClimb

24 July 2009
Japanese driver Nobuhiro Tajima has scored another win for Suzuki on the testing Pikes Peak international hillclimb in Colorado. 

Tajima, whose nickname is Monster, is regarded the undisputed king of the North American classic hill course, a reputation he cemented on the Race to the Sky event in Central Otago. 

The 2009 Pikes Peak event was the fourth successive victory for Tajima and Suzuki, a combination that has won the high speed race no fewer than eight times during the past decade. 

Monster fought off a strong challenge in the 87th annual event which ended on July 19, beating cars with more power than his much modified four-wheel-drive Suzuki SX4.

Crashes, mechanical failures, gusty winds, rain and lightning caused havoc for the 163 drivers pounding up the 19.9 kilometre hill which reaches 4,300 metres above sea level at the finishing line. 

With frightening vertical drops and 156 turns, the Pikes Peak climb is one of the most memorable of motor sports events.  

“The mountain is not a place for the faint-hearted,” said Tajima after his winning drive. “It’s a very specialised course, long and very challenging with its own unique characteristics that take years to come to terms with.”

Monster believes the event is similar to a long - fast rally special stage with multiple surface combinations unlike anywhere else in the world. 

He faced stern opposition from British rallycross champion Mark Rennison in an 867 kW (1,150 bhp) Ford RS200, but a dropped engine valve put this car out of the running. 

Sweden’s Andreas Eriksson was also expected to provide a challenge, but the Scandinavian rolled his Ford Fiesta on the second day. 

Two times world rally champion Marcus Gronholm from Finland was determined to win but blew the engine in another modified Ford Fiesta. 

Tajima set out to smash his own record of 10 minutes 1.408 seconds set two years ago. However, slippery conditions put paid to this and his best time of 10 minutes 15.368 seconds was still good enough to take overall honours. 

Breaking the ten minute barrier remains elusive, but the Japanese driver, who set the fastest time on each day, said after the event, “We’ll be back.

” Tajima finished 36.7 seconds clear of the second car, a Chevvy driven by Paul Dallenbach, and one minute 13.59 seconds ahead of Gronholm.  

The purpose-built SX4 driven by Tajima is powered by a 2.7-litre twin-turbocharged Suzuki H27A engine, producing 651 kW (873 brake horsepower) at 8,750 revs and 887 Nm of torque at 6,250 rpm. 

Although a special steel space frame was built, the Suzuki Monster Sport Hillclimb Special SX4 has clear resemblance to the European-inspired body shape of the production SX4 hatchback. 

Weighing 1,120 kg, and running on 285/60 series tyres fitted to 18-inch diameter, 11-inch wide wheels, the special SX4 has a carbon and Kevlar composite bodywork and a six-speed sequential gearbox. 

Tajima and Suzuki first entered Pikes Peak 20 years ago, and Monster won the event with a Vitara in 1995. Suzuki began challenging the Race for the Sky in  New Zealand in the late 1990s and quickly claimed top placings. 

Pikes Peak 2009 is another chapter in Suzuki’s long and successful motor sport history which began with a hillclimb victory years ago at Mt Fuji in Japan, near the marque’s corporate home of Hamamatsu.   

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