Driving Sports

Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima returned to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb this weekend with the same goal as in 2008: beat the competition up the mountain, and beat the mountain by making the run in less than ten minutes.

A Pikes Peak competitor since 1988, Monster recorded his first class win in 1993, and took his first overall title in 1995 aboard a twin-engined Escudo. Monster then set the current record at 10 minutes, 1.408 seconds in 2007.

Despite failing to beat his own record time from 2007, Monster was clearly dominant in the Unlimited division, setting a time of 10 minutes, 15.368 seconds. That was enough to beat second place by 1 minute and 13 seconds. This year marks the 4th consecutive overall win for Tajima and his team.

Monster’s Hillclimb Special – featuring a steel space frame, along with carbon and Kevlar composite bodywork – is modeled after Suzuki’s own dual-sport, the SX4 Crossover.  Monster’s win capped a weekend of success for Suzuki-mounted competitors. Suzuki’s Rockstar Makita teams took overall wins in both the 450 and 250 classes in Millville, Minnesota, while the Suzuki ATV team took the top podium spot in Armagh, Pennsylvania.

For overall results from this week’s efforts, look here.