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4 women drivers likely to set Pikes Peak Hill Climb record
HILL CLIMB
When: 9 a.m. Sunday, 1240 AM
Ticket prices: $40 general ($45 Sunday) and $125 family four-pack, ticketswest.com
Fan Fest: 5-10 p.m. Friday, downtown Colorado Springs
• Limited camping permits and other race information at ppihc.com; toll gate opens 4 a.m., uphill traffic stopped all areas at latest by 8:15
It’s days until Sunday's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and already one record will likely be broken.
Four women, three driving cars and one a motorcycle, plan to be racing to the peak’s summit, which is more than in any other year.
“There’s definitely a place for women on Pikes Peak,” said race director Phil Layton, who said four women drivers is a record. “They’re doing very well and are very professional. They give the men a run for their money.”
Three of the women, 17-year-old Savannah Rickli of Littleton, Lorie Wood of Woodland Park and Sharon Maitland of Denver, have raced up Pikes Peak in years past.
Rickli is the youngest female driver and will be racing in the Time Attack 2WD division. Wood, who has competed in the Hill Climb for 15 years, will be racing against her husband Dave Wood in the Open Wheel division.
“There’s no feeling like when you’re getting in your car and you’re going up the start line, it’s all you,” Wood said.
Christy Carlson, 31, from Papillion Neb., has never driven up Pikes Peak but her friend suggested the idea. After racing in numerous other types of races and spending her career as a meteorologist chasing storms, the Hill Climb seemed like the natural next step for her.
Driving a 2002 Subaru WRX in the Time Attack 4WD Division, Carlson knows her car is underpowered but she is ready to race.
“I know I’m the underdog,” Carlson said. “I just want to drive well and finish.”
On motorcycle, Maitland will be the only woman in the 250CC division but it doesn’t bother her.
“The motorcycle group, we’re all pretty tight, we know each other well,” Maitland said. “I’m just another racer here. I just want to finish the race with a smile on my face.”
Rickli hopes to see more women come out and race in the future.
“I think a lot of women don’t think they can do it,” Rickli said. “Women as a whole have come a long way getting equal appreciation and everything in the world but I think women tend to set limits on themselves. I think it’s exciting to see more girls saying, ‘yeah I can race too, bring it on.’”
