Monster Tajima wins Pikes Peak with 870 hp Suzuki SX4
Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima and his supporting Monster Sport cast return to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb this weekend with but one obvious opponent: the 2007 version of Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima and his record-breaking performance on the mountain they call Pikes Peak.
As the Peak’s undisputed King of the Hill, Mr. Tajima – and his Suzuki – has been without peer in their most recent, record-breaking performances. With his record time of 10 minutes, 1.408 seconds posted in 2007, Tajima and his team broke a Pikes Peak mark in the record books since 1994. A Pikes Peak competitor since 1988, Monster recorded his first class in 1993, and took his first overall title in 1995 aboard a twin-engined Escudo Vitara.
With the course under construction during last year’s competition, the 2008 run – and any record breaking – was rendered all but impossible. This year, behind the wheel of the Monster Sport SX4 Hillclimb Special, Tajima hopes to add his high-speed take to a vehicle already well regarded in the mountain and snowbelt states. With the production model’s all-wheel drive and Euro-inspired skin, the SX4 constitutes an international assault on the highways – and Colorado-sourced byways – of North America. The tuned SX4 has an 873 hp 2.7L twin-turbo V6.
Monster’s Hillclimb Special – featuring a steel space frame, along with carbon and Kevlar composite bodywork – offers little traditional mass to hold the Special’s 885 horsepower back. The Unlimited Division, however, is not without competition; in 2009 three others intend to compete, including Andreas Eriksson, Marcus Gronholm and Mark Rennison.
Suzuki is likening this win to their early history, where the company’s first victory was posted on a hillclimb near its corporate home, at Mt. Fuji, Japan.