Editorial Note: The results of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb were just released today, Wednesday, July 1, three days after the event ran.

Honda’s Jeff Tigert Wins Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Collaborative Honda-supported race effort tops motorcycle division

TORRANCE, Calif., July 1, 2015 – Participating in a Honda-organized collaborative two- and four-wheel internal racing program at the 2015 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, American Honda media coordinator Jeff Tigert was victorious in the Heavyweight motorcycle division while posting the fastest time among all motorcycle entrants. Having set the Lightweight course record in 2013 aboard a Honda CRF450R, Tigert returned this year with a Honda CBR1000RR, and his performance was nothing less than dominant. Tigert was the fastest motorcyclist on the mountain on three of the four practice/qualifying days and overcame a qualifying crash to earn pole position. In the race, his winning time of 10:02 was over 15 seconds faster than the next-closest rider.

“The week was a stressful rollercoaster of highs and lows and lack of sleep,” a relieved Tigert said afterward. “Things went really smoothly early on, but my luck changed in my second qualifying run when I crashed and went off the course. On race day I had a lot on my mind and the course was pretty sketchy, but I tried to keep calm and ride within my limits. It’s such a unique race, and the competitors are so emotionally connected to one another. It was a big weight off my shoulders when it was all over and I was presented with the checkered flag that goes to the winners.”

Honda’s effort at Pikes Peak began in 2011, and this year it had associates campaigning a wide variety of Honda models including automobiles and powersports products like the CBR1000RR and CBR600RR, in classes from the Open to Exhibition fields. Comprised entirely of Honda associates, the squad received support from American Honda, Honda R&D and Honda Performance Development. In addition, Honda partnered with the American Motorcyclist Association to provide soft-barrier technology for a number of locations on the course. Also this year, Honda offered an Acura NSX pace car for the race and utilized generators from its Honda Power Equipment division.

“Through this collection of associates, Honda seized the opportunity to showcase its diversity and capability to compete, and even win, in many of the classes at this famous hill climb,” said project leader James Robinson, a principal powertrain engineer at Honda R&D. “This program has been in place since 2011 and this year we again expanded our competitive lineup to now be largest single team at Pikes Peak. It’s a great opportunity for team building while also providing associates the opportunity to acquire additional skillsets and challenge themselves professionally and on the racecourse. We had some strong results, including seven podium finishes and three first-place finishes, and to have Jeff earn the overall motorcycle win was great.”

More, from a press release issued by Victory Motorcycles:

Project 156 was on an aggressive pace for a podium finish, but crashes in the second section and DNF’s at 93rd annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

· Project 156 qualified fourth overall out of 60 entries and top of class

· Don Canet posted the second fastest time of the day in section one

· Don Canet crashed in section two of the course but remounted the bike

· Project 156 had to pull over in the fourth and final section while leading the Exhibition Class to an unfortunate DNF.

Victory Racing experienced some highs and lows with racing this weekend after Project 156, ridden by Cycle World Editor Don Canet, crashed in the second section of the mountain course and stopped running less than 2 miles from the summit of the Pikes Peak’s finish line following an aggressive starting pace that proved the potential of the prototype engine.

Canet had qualified first in the Exhibition Class a few days before the race and was buoyed by qualifying fourth overall. Early on in the race, Don was posting speeds on Project 156 that were putting him in the running for an overall podium finish until he touched the slippery white paint in section two’s Brown Bush corner, one of the tightest corners out of the 156 turns, resulting in a minor lowside that would cause issues later in the run.

Don was rolling again in 23 seconds and resumed his fast pace. In the third section he was back on race pace posting the fifth fastest split time overall. Alas, it was not meant to be and he had to retire in the fourth and final section of the course around 13,000ft elevation. After such a promising start following practice and qualifying, the Victory Racing team began to set its sights on not just winning their class, but taking the overall lowest time in the motorcycle category.

Canet said: “I was off to a strong start and competitive with the fastest bikes on the mountain. My disappointment is more for the team and how much work they put into Project 156 from the very beginning. The bike was working really well today despite being a prototype and being rebuilt after the practice crash a few weeks ago. To go fast here you have to ride outside the paint lines and I got caught out crossing over one. I never let go of the handlebars and got right back up again but unfortunately the bike stopped running in the last section. Overall, I’m really proud of the team’s effort.”

Victory Motorcycles General Manager Rod Krois said: “The Victory team didn’t shy away from the challenge of racing Pikes Peak. Racing is the ultimate test for any machine and on the back of a podium at the Isle of Man TT a few weeks ago we were hoping for a strong result with Project 156 as well. We know that Don and the team were pushing hard to take a position on the overall podium and we absolutely support their commitment to racing as hard as possible at Pikes Peak this year.”

“We committed to racing a prototype Victory engine in one of the toughest ways possible, and we succeeded in showing how strong an engineering team we have at Victory Motorcycles to develop a competitive motor in such a short time,” said Polaris Motorcycles Product Director Gary Gray. “We may not have ended up with the result we all wanted today – but I can say that the Project 156 represents the two things that Victory stands for – performance and exhilaration. We got the bike back down to the pits after the race, and were able to fire it up. It looks like the crash may have resulted in an electrical issue that ended this run for Project 156. The team is investigating to find the specific issue, and we want to bring Project 156 back to the race again.”

Project 156 is sponsored by Victory Motorcycles, Roland Sands Design, Faulkner-Livingston Racing, AF1 Racing, MoTec, Dunlop Tires, Öhlins Suspension, Carillo Rods, Speedcell, GoPro Cameras, K&N Filters, Del West, IWIS, Spider Grips, Aeromotive, and Millennium Technologies. The team also wishes to extend a sincere thank you to Tom Osborne, the PPIHC staff and all of the safety personnel involved as well as the hundreds of Victory Motorcycle fans who attended the event and enjoyed a VIP viewing area.

Victory Motorcycles has been flexing their muscles, not only with an entry in the Isle of Man TT, but also with professional drag racing, stunt teams and this entry in the iconic Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a prototype and custom race machine built by Victory Racing and Roland Sands Design.

About Victory Motorcycles

Victory Motorcycles designs, engineers, manufactures and markets a full line of cruisers, baggers and touring motorcycles. Every Victory model delivers industry-leading performance, comfort, style, storage and reliability. The first Victory was produced on the Fourth of July, 1998, in Spirit Lake, Iowa, where every Victory motorcycle continues to be produced today. Information about Victory motorcycles, apparel and accessories is available at www.victorymotorcycles.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/VictoryMotorcycles