Acura announced that it will use an Integra race car at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to break the front-wheel-drive record. Katherine Legge will drive the Integra Type S DE5. Her first-time time of 10:51:359 was just over three seconds off the record. Also from Acura, the Integra Type S HRC Prototype, which made its debut at Monterey Car Week in 2024, will power the pace car for the event. Some of the toughest races happen every summer, like the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. However, it’s not as well-known as races like the Indianapolis 500 or the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Cars go up almost 5,000 feet at breakneck speed before they reach the peak, which is 14,115 feet above sea level. There is only a guardrail to keep them from tumbling down the slope. Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and Acura have announced that their factory-sponsored Integra race cars will compete in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Their goal is to break the front-wheel drive record with these cars. Katherine Legge will be responsible for the Integra Type S DE5 during the Time Attack 1 (TA1) event. Legge will go up the peak for the second time. He runs in both IndyCar and IMSA. She placed in the top five in the TA1 division last year, with a time of 10:51.359 for the 12.42-mile course. A front-wheel-drive record of 10:48.094 was set in 2018 by Acura engineer and Pikes Peak expert Nick Robinson in a 500-hp TLX. The new time was just a few seconds slower than that. Legge came so close to breaking Robinson’s record last year, and Acura thinks he has what it takes to do it now that he has more experience. The Acura Integra will also serve as the official pace car for the hill climb, and the company has chosen to showcase the prototype of the yellow Integra Type S HRC. The HRC Prototype, which made its debut at Monterey Car Week last year, showcases several HRC performance parts that will soon be available on the market. The HRC Prototype will be piloted by Rusty Smith, an American speed skater and Olympic bronze medalist who last took part in the Winter Games in 2006. Acura says Smith, who has a first-generation yellow-on-yellow Acura NSX-T, likes both Honda and Acura cars. Ford is sponsoring Team USA and working with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which is why Smith is there. The 103rd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will start on Sunday, June 22, at 7:30 a.m. MDT with the green flag.
