The Race to the Clouds is now welcoming a new challenger into the scene, and this new contender will surely be giving his best to grab the win. Also signaling the return of Peugeot to Pikes Peak, nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb will be piloting a heavily modified 208 T16 to conquer the 20 kilometer uphill course.
Peugeot bagged two wins for this challenging race back in the 80’s, one in 1988 by Ari Vatanen and another one the year after by Robby Unser, both driving the 405 T16. They will again attempt to reach the summit this June 30th after convincing sister-company Citroen to allow Sebastien Loeb in joining the Pikes Peak Hill Climb for the first time in his career.
Peugeot has yet to release any technical details on the 208 T16 Pikes Peak racer, but they are planning a reveal event somewhere in mid-April. The 208 T16 will be entering the “Unlimited” class, and like the name of the model, will wear the number “208” on its sides. Unlimited-class cars usually carry an output of at least 1,000-horsepower, so the 208 T16 pictured here might not look the same entering Pikes Peak later on.
The Pikes Peak Hill Climb stretches over 20 kilometers with 156 turns to negotiate, and takes the challengers from an altitude of 2,800 meters to 4,300 meters at the summit, a climb of 1,500 meters.
