2013 Pikes Peak Int’l Hill Climb: The Only Photo Gallery You Need to See

There was quite a lot of hype surrounding Sébastien Loeb when it was announced that he would partake in the 2013 edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. After all, it’s been suggested that the nine-time World Rally Championship winner is the greatest driver in the world right now. (Loeb aims to augment those claims with a campaign in the World Touring Car Championship next season.) That hype was justified when the Frenchman smashed the existing overall record on Sunday by a more than a minute and a half, reaching the summit in just under eight minutes, fourteen seconds.

With all eyes turned toward Loeb, the weekend’s second-place driver, Rhys Millen, was nearly lost in the shuffle—he turned in a run some 49 seconds slower than Loeb. That may not sound impressive, but it, too, bested the previous record, set by Millen himself just last year. So allow us to take a moment to remind ourselves just how impressive any run up the Peak really is, much less a nine-minute time. (Remember when sub-10-minutes was unthinkable? You should, it wasn’t that long ago that “Monster” Tajima was the first to break into single-digit minutes, in 2011.) For photos of the pacesetters, as well as many more competitors, head into our gallery of the best shots from this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.