The Pikes Peak International Hillclimb is the second oldest race in the US. It is also one of the most formidable challenges in international motorsport, every year attracting legendary drivers and teams from all over the world. Starting at an elevation of 9,390 feet the course winds its way to the summit at a dizzying 14,110 feet where air pressure is some 30% lower than it is at sea level. Countless blind turns, dramatic cliffs and wildly unpredictable weather all add to the tests each driver must face on the way up the Mountain. It is a tremendous challenge for both man and machine.

PPIHC is also perhaps the only major international race where a daring grassroots team on a modest budget can compete head-to-head with top-name factory entries. In most established circuit racing series, rules are designed to create close competition. This is done primarily to help maintain audience interest over the length of the season. The rules therefore all but preclude a dramatically different design from entry. Not so at Pikes Peak - a once-a-year event where in several classes technical innovation can be used to an advantage.

Palatov Motorsport LLC is a four-person company dedicated to creating revolutionary high performance cars from scratch. We defy incredible odds and overcome monumental challenges as part of our daily routine. When we set Pikes Peak as a goal in 2012, we raced to build an ultra lightweight all wheel drive car from the ground up in a mere four months. Overcoming many trials and tribulations on a crowdfunded budget, our efforts were a success resulting in an Unlimited class win with David Donner at the wheel of the Palatov D4PPS. A detailed blog of the effort is online at www.dpcars.net/pikespeak

In 2015, we came back to the Mountain but this time with a street-registered, 50 state emissions legal D2RS with Jonathan Frost making his Pikes Peak debut as the driver. The goal was to take a car that a customer could actually buy and drive on the road, and pit it against some of the world's fastest racing machines. We faced some of the same challenges as the earlier effort, and countless new ones as well. The result was an Open class win and again it did not come easy. The 2015 adventure is documented in a blog at www.palatov.com/pikespeak/2015pp

Our 2016 effort was an evolution of both the 2012 and 2015 endeavors, taking everything we’ve learned and adding many new innovations to the mix. After overcoming many challenges, (documented in last year’s blog) both cars finished on the podium, with Jonathan Frost taking 2^ndin Open class in the Palatov D2RS and Rodney Tu taking third in Unlimited with the Palatov D1PPS. Times were 10:”04 and 10::06 respectively, with Rodney missing Rookie of the Year honors by only 0.1 seconds.

For 2017 the Palatov effort consists of a customer-fielded twin turbo Palatov D2TT, driven by many-time Pikes Peak competitor David Meyer, and a return by Rodney Tu in his Palatov D1PPS.

By showing your support for our effort with a financial contribution you will become a participant in our race effort. There are several different levels of participation available to both individual and commercial sponsors the details of which are listed below.

The construction of the cars is complete and we’re ready to start testing on the Mountain.. While the existing customer and sponsor commitment got us going, we still need to raise considerable additional funds to cover the many significant expenses involved in this effort.

Level 1 (Start Line): With a contribution of $10 or more, individuals will receive access to our Blog (not available to general public until after the race).[swpm_payment_button id=1481 button_text="Contribute $10"]

Level 2 (Hansen’s Corner): Individuals contributing $50 or more will get the blog access and a limited edition sponsor T-shirt. [swpm_payment_button id=1507 button_text="Contribute $50"]

Level 3 (Blue Sky): Sponsors contributing $300 or more will get all previous level benefits, have their name listed on our website and will receive an official Palatov team jacket.[swpm_payment_button id=1508 button_text="Contribute $300"]

Level 4 (Ragged Edge): Individuals contributing $1,000 and up will be invited to attend one of our private test sessions at Oregon Raceway Park. In addition to being able to witness the testing and talk with the team sponsors will be given demo rides on the track by one of our test drivers. A Level 4 contribution CAN BE FULLY APPLIED TOWARDS A LATER PURCHASE of a Palatov car.

Level 5 (Devil's Playground): Individual sponsors supporting us with $2,500 or more will be able to test-drive various Palatov cars on tack during one of our private test sessions and receive expert one-on-one coaching. A Level 5 contribution CAN BE FULLY APPLIED TOWARDS A LATER PURCHASE of any Palatov car.

For a Level 4-5 contribution, please contact us.

Contact Us

A skilled and talented driver is essential to a successful race effort. We have been fortunate to work with some of the best and our 2016 effort is no exception.

Rodney Tu is a skilled racer who, in 2016, raced the D1PPS to a third place finish in the PPIHC Unlimited Class. In addition, he has accumulated numerous wins and records campaigning his Palatov D4 in Taiwan.

Anna & Mark Bridavsky
Pete Stoppani

Neil & Valerie Bradley

Hoosier
www.hoosiertire.com

Lewis Fabrication
www.lewisfab.com

Oregon Raceway Park
www.oregonraceway.com

Corsa Research & Development
www.corsard.com

Nine Dot Connects
www.ninedotconnects.com

Testing and development is a crucial part of any racing program. As in our previous efforts, we will continue to leverage our relationship with Oregon Raceway Park, a challenging 2.5 mile road course located in eastern Oregon. Having the data from the 2012 and 2015 runs and same-car, same-driver testing, we are now able to accurately evaluate the potential performance of the car and driver well before arriving on the Mountain.

The final phases of the test and development program will be conducted at the actual Pikes Peak course.

To supplement the physical testing, Palatov Motorsport is already using advanced computer simulation tools similar to those used by top competitors in series such as F1. They include SolidWorks Flow Simulation CFD for aerodynamics development and Driver-In-The-Loop simulation for kinematics, driver optimization and overall race strategy analysis. The virtual analysis is backed up by full data acquisition including GPS, force and operational parameter logging.