The annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is over, and while Ford’s Super Mustang Mach-E prototype showed the overall best time, it was a mass-produced Chevy Corvette that won everybody over.
The car was a ZR1X-spec coupe driven by J R Hildebrand of IndyCar fame. Despite his limited experience at hill climb racing, Hildebrand nonetheless managed to ascend the 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) long track in 9 minutes 30.1 seconds. His nearest rival crossed the finish line 15 seconds later in a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport.
Before yesterday, the Pikes Peak production car record had belonged to a Porsche 911 Turbo S, which finished in 9 minutes 53.541 seconds back in 2022. That record had held for four years, only for Chevrolet to eventually beat it by whopping 23 seconds.
In case you needed a reminder, the Corvette ZR1X relies on a 5.5-liter high-induction-pressure V8 and a front-axle electric motor for propulsion. The system develops 1,267 PS (1,250 hp / 932 kW) and takes the coupe from standstill to 96.6 km/h (60 mph) in two seconds or so.
As for the Mustang Mach-E featured in the video above, it is a prototype race car equipped with three e-motors jointly rated at 1,419 PS (1,400 hp / 1,044 kW). It doesn’t really have much in common with its street-legal namesake, so it’s not surprising it reached the finish in 8 minutes 18.2 seconds.