The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, held each summer on the Pikes Peak Highway near Colorado Springs, USA, is the world's largest hill climb race.
It is a 20.0 km course that rises 1,501 m, from 2,800 m to 4,301 m above sea level, featuring 156 corners ranging from highly technical 60 km/h hairpins to spectacular 200 km/h high speed corners. There is a temperature difference of 20°F from starting point and the finish line, and the conditions are severe at best for the competition car.
The Suzuki Escudo Dirt Trial Car was a monster machine purpose-built for this race.
Constructed on an aluminium space-frame designed completely from scratch, it was equipped with a fully tuned 2.5-litre twin-turbo V6 pushing 981 BHP with a maximum torque of 687.1 lb-ft.
At 800 kg, the Escudo was a featherweight, so to push the car down into the slippery gravel of the course it was given a massive front spoiler and colossal rear wing that were wind-tunnel tested and designed. The base Escudo was lost completely in its transformation into this overwhelming beast.
It was also driven by a man who was called a monster, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima. A master of dirt tracks with 7 All-Japan Dirt Trials Championship wins in a row, he would first challenge Pikes Peak in 1989, and then go on to become the first Japanese overall winner in 1995.