Shute ready for another Pikes Peak shot in monster prototype

Hill Climb Racing News

Robin Shute, a man now synonymous with the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb challenge, is going for the all-time record in his own – faster than ever – machine

Robin Shute with crash helmet on

Shute is taking on the mighty mountain in his own machine again

Author

Damien Smith

Britain’s Pikes Peak winner is returning to the Colorado mountain for a crack at a fourth victory in five years – just not in the car he was expecting.

California-based expat Robin Shute had been lined up to give Aston Martin its debut on America’s great mountain climb that’s been a gilded motor sport fixture since 1916, but a financial hitch has meant a hasty change of plan. Shute will fall back on his trusty Wolf TSC-LT Unlimited-class sports racer for the 101st running on June 25 and is bullish that a shot at some Pikes Peak records could be on – if he finally gets a break with the weather.

He had teamed up with Venture Engineering, an Aston Martin Racing partner team, to take a Vantage GT3 to the mountain to run in the Time Attack class. The effort involved “picking the best parts of the GT3 and GTE cars, derestricting and light-weighting it” – but raising budgets is never something to be taken lightly, especially right now.

Robin Shute Pikes Peak 2022

Shute is back in the Wolf for 2023

“The project came together quickly and sounded really promising,” Shute tells Motor Sport.

“Everything was in place, and then it started to wobble, even back in February when I was due to fly to Portugal to test the car. There were some funding issues and I was patient, waited for a couple of months to see if they could find alternative funding and unfortunately they couldn’t, so they had to pull out. I was super-sad to see that because it’s a great team of people, combined with the storied history of Aston Martin and how successful that GT3 car is. I think we would have been very competitive and within shot of the overall win – a record in the Time Attack class definitely, but the overall win as well. It was a promising two year-programme, with a plan in the second year to build something quite special [for the Unlimited class].”

From the archive

Shute hasn’t ruled out a revival of the Aston project in the future, but for now he’s happy to head back to his beloved race for another shot in a familiar seat. “Yes, we’re dusting off the cobwebs with the Wolf!” he says. “I joke because actually we’ve been developing that car over the past year. It’s a never-ending project. We have quite a few upgrades going on the car for this year and that’s what’s really exciting. Last year we didn’t get a shot to set a proper time in the dry, so we couldn’t fully demonstrate the performance. And we hadn’t really completed all the work we planned, so we were a bit behind anyway. But for this year we’ve finished off that work and are adding some on top as well. It’s looking really good.”

A fourth overall win would clearly be special, but it’s the mountain records Shute craves the most. Sébastien Loeb holds the internal combustion engine record at 8min 13.878sec, set in a bespoke Peugeot 208 T16 in 2013, while Romain Dumas is the fastest ever. The two-time Le Mans winner shot up the fully paved 12.42-mile course in 7min 57.148sec in 2018, driving the electric-powered Volkswagen I DR. Shute reckons Loeb’s mark is within his grasp and even has one eye on Dumas’s time.

“Last year we got closer to the ID R pace in some sections of the course and even matched it, which was brilliant,” he says.

Robin Shute at summit of Pikes Peak with king of the mountain flag

King of the Mountain: Shute has now become synonymous with the famous hill climb

“This year you will see another jump and improvement. I think we could be very close to the mountain record. As always it’s down to track conditions and is very much weather dependent, but the car should be firmly in the low eight minutes now, if not knocking on the door of seven. My biggest hurdle is time. There’s a frantic rush right now – but I’m trying to have the frantic rush as early as possible so we’ll be ready and on the front foot for June when we go to Colorado.”

He’s excited to try the biggest upgrade for the car, a tunnelled floor that was due for the 100th running in 2022, only for time to beat his small team.

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“Last year’s aero kit was mainly a revised front floor and front wing and that brought the balance very much to the front of the car and made it less ride-height sensitive,” he explains. “Then this year with the tunnelled floor we are adding a lot more – a 20% bump in downforce for 5% less drag. That’s a big improvement, huge numbers. The thing I’m worried about now is how the chassis copes with the extra downforce. That is a huge factor on the mountain. You need a soft car on the bumps, but you also need a stiff car to deal with the aero loads. That’s always my headache.

“We also have a new turbo from Borg Warner, so we should see an increased peak number now with another 50bhp for our Honda engine. We are also working with a British company called DSPS Engineering and they make fresh air anti-lag wastegates. With a slightly bigger turbo we need the anti-lag support. We also have some tyre improvements coming from Yokohama and a few chassis tweaks. We’ll be in the mix.”

The biggest question mark, as ever, is the one thing he cannot control. “I don’t think fingers crossed will be enough when it comes to the weather! What else can we do? I’ve still not had a clear run to the top in all the years I’ve been going to Pikes Peak, whether it be a mechanical issue or a weather issue. I’ve yet to race properly all the way to the top.”

Shute remains an under-the-radar British motor sport success story, although recognition has increased. The Royal Automobile Club honoured his achievements and sense of adventure by awarding him its prestigious Segrave Trophy last year.

Rear view of Robin Shute Wolf on the Pikes Peak hillclimb in 2022

Shute will hope weather doesn’t stand in his way this year

Larry Chen Photo

“I was a nobody when I started at Pikes Peak and making a name for yourself takes a bit of time,” he says. “But people are now starting to see what I’m up to. I’m also doing a bit more motor sport now, racing in Nitro Rallycross and some stage rallying on the dirt. It’s funny, I’m a single-seater pavement racer having done Pikes Peak and now I’m transitioning to the dirt.”

Shute would also love a run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to spread the word, although it would have to be in someone else’s car because of the logistical impossibilities of transporting the Wolf over to the UK in time. But for now, and as usual, all his focus is on that daunting mountain and its 156-turn ribbon of asphalt that rises to a peak altitude at the finish of 14,115 feet. Will Shute get the dry, untroubled run he deserves? We’ll report back, hopefully with good news, at the end of next month.

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