Hill Climb notebook: Gregoire Blachon sets diesel record; Woodland Park’s Codie Vahsholtz wins open wheel
Sunday was a long time coming for Gregoire Blachon.
The 38-year-old driver from France set a new diesel record (10:25.071) at The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He finished 19th overall and fourth in the exhibition class.
“It’s very, very special,” Blachon said. “It’s been five years of hard work and putting things together to come to this accomplishment, so I’m very excited.”
Blachon had raced four other times on Pikes Peak before setting the record, and he was pleased with those performances. But in all of those, something went wrong with the conditions or the road, causing him to drop in the final standings.
But this time, none of those unfortunate things happened.
“I was finally able to catch up on all those challenges,” Blachon said. “I was performing well; I just never had the opportunity to get it done.”
Scott Birdsall set the former diesel exhibition record in 2020, finishing in 11:24.065.
Before Blachon’s run, Cole Powelson broke Birdsall’s record with a time of 11:06.535. But just a few runs later, Blachon overtook Powelson’s briefly-held record.
Now a record-setter in the Hill Climb, Blachon is eager to return to “America’s Mountain.”
“This is just the beginning,” Blachon said. “I want to keep building this up.”
Local finishers
Codie Vahsholtz was the top finisher from Colorado. The Woodland Park native finished fifth overall and first in the open wheel class.
Vahsholtz raced in the Hill Climb in the motorcycle class for nine years before the Hill Climb removed it. Since then, he has competed in open wheel, and he won the class last year.
Next from the Pikes Peak Region was Dan Novembre of Colorado Springs. Novembre, seventh overall, was second in the unlimited class. Jeff Zwart was the only other Coloradoan to crack the top 10, as the Aspen native finished ninth with a time of 9:46.131.
Hill Climb Newcomers
Sylas Montgomery was the top rookie, finishing 11th overall.
A Sonoma, Calif., resident, Montgomery finished in 9:55.993. Montgomery’s time was good enough for third in the open wheel class.
Less than two seconds behind Montgomery was rookie Duncan Cooper, who finished 12th. Cooper placed third in the unlimited class.
Five other rookies — Mike Widdett, Hayden Bradley, Nuno Caetano, Hutton McKenna and Robert Robles — finished in the top 30.
Remembering Ken Block
Pikes Peak paid tribute to Ken Block on Sunday.
Block, who died in January, was a staple in rallycross, as well as motocross, skateboarding and snowboarding. He competed in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2005 and was slated to in 2022 before engine failure led him to withdraw.
In the first PPIHC since Block’s passing, his relatives fulfilled his legacy.
His widow, Lucy, drove a 2024 Sierra Echo in the unlimited division, finishing 40th overall. Lucy had never raced in the Hill Climb, but she fulfilled her goal.
“I just wanted to make it to the top,” Lucy Block said.
Though she didn’t compete, Block’s daughter, Lia, drove her father’s “Hoonipigasus” Porsche up the Pikes Peak Highway ceremonially after all 67 competitors had completed their races.
Lia and Lucy embraced each other, both shedding tears, once Lia completed the circuit. And after that, the two took a group photo with every other driver in the field.
Scary moments
In an otherwise clean race, Matt Mullins crashed before the first checkpoint and did not finish.
Matt Mullins, a BMW driver walks to the finish line after emerging from a crash – the most harrowing thing that could happen at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race on June 25, as spectators erupt in cheers upon knowing he walked out of the accident unscathed.
Mullins appeared to hit a tree, causing damage to his front-right wheel and windshield. A tow truck had to remove Mullins’ car from the tree.
Though scary, Mullins walked away with no injuries and embraced his family at the starting line.
In addition to Mullins, nine other drivers did not finish for a variety of reasons.
Unlimited division driver Robin Shute turns the final corner in his 2018 Wolf TSC-FS before heading to the finish line during The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on Sunday.