Katherine Legge has raced in almost all of them while on four wheels. In endurance races, like the unique DeltaWing, she has raced through the night. At the Indy 500, she has driven an IndyCar at over 230 mph. A NASCAR pack also picked her up. But she had never been up against a task like the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. She did it for the first time last year and again this year with Acura. After Legge climbed the 14,115-foot peak during this year’s Race to the Clouds, we spoke with her about the difficulties she faced and the steps she had to take to prepare for one of the most challenging racing events in the world. Legge had always wanted to race up Pikes Peak, one of the tallest mountains in the country, ever since he moved there 20 years ago. The hill climb, which is the second-longest motorsports event in the United States after the Indianapolis 500, was out of reach for many years because her busy racing schedule didn’t allow her to attend in June. “It just kind of fell into my lap,” she said last summer. People from Legge, Acura, and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC, formerly HPD) have worked together for a long time. When they offered me the opportunity, I gladly accepted. She soon realized that getting ready for Pikes Peak is unlike preparing for any other event. Even though IndyCar drivers train for the Indy 500 using cutting-edge models like Honda’s “Driver in the Loop” simulator, which we had the chance to examine last year, there is no similar tool for simulating driving up the mountain. Legge shared that she learned the course the old-fashioned way by repeatedly watching video footage, rewinding and reviewing it for hours. The 12.42-mile course up Pikes Peak features more than 150 turns as it twists its way to the summit. Some of the turns are very sharp and hard to remember. Legge said it was like the famous 12.94-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, which is also known as “The Green Hell.” She used the same method here that she had used to learn the music online. Legge said, “I’ve watched days’ worth of video,” pointing out important parts of the film. Due to Pikes Peak’s distinctive setting and its temporary use as a racetrack, Legge had to discover her braking zones and racing lines through less conventional methods. On most permanent racetracks, there are flag posts, numbered boards, and other markers that show you how far away you are from the turn. She pointed out the many barriers, the large rocks scattered across the mountainside, and the snow stakes that marked the end of the road. She also sees the makeshift bathrooms that have been set up on top of the mountain for race officials and fans. “I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to hug the mountain after the portaloo,'” she said of her rush up the mountain. They learn how to drive on hills more effectively because they train in stages. The mountain is divided into three sections, and drivers spend the week leading up to the event practicing each segment multiple times. They practice each piece several times, and breaking it up into three parts helps them remember it more effectively. “But at no point in time do you ever put it together until race day,” Legge said. “So I have only ever done the whole thing once.” Legge also used slower road car rides up the mountain, which was like walking on a track, and asked her racing friends for help. But going fast up a mountain in a race car is more exciting than anything else. Last year, she drove an Integra Type S road car, and this year, she used an Acura ADX SUV. This means that one of the other main problems is getting enough time in the race car. Legge drove a race car, the Acura Integra Type S DE5, to the top of the mountain. It features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces 360 horsepower and a sequential transmission that powers the front wheels. She only drives during the Race, except for a short test at High Plains Raceway last year and a practice this year. Legge was especially interested in how the Integra’s front-wheel drive reduced the time it took to sit down. She has almost always raced cars with rear-wheel drive, like the Acura NSX GT3 and IndyCars. “But I feel like I’ve driven everything [under] the sun,” she said to me. “I’ve flown the DeltaWing and driven electric cars.” Being able to switch between cars, series, and the various vehicles I’ve driven has been beneficial. Legge’s first time in 2024 was only a few seconds slower than the front-wheel-drive record set by a car with 140 more horsepower, demonstrating how quickly she had learned. Her words, “At the end of the day, it’s just a race car,” “You drive it differently, but almost subconsciously, you know what the car needs.” The huge height of Pikes Peak is another problem. The starting point of the run is 4,720 feet above sea level, which is a significant height, and 14,110 feet is unbelievably high. Many people who reach the summit experience altitude sickness because the thin air causes them to lose their breath quickly. “When we first got here a year ago, we went on a hike to the top of the mountain to see what was going on.” Such as, “Will I get sick?” Legge asked. “But I was fine with it, and I did a lot of training between testing and the race, including hiking and running in the altitude.” Between the test and the hill climb this year, Legge flew to Mexico City, which is about 7,000 feet above sea level, to Race in NASCAR. This helped her maintain her body shape. Although Legge was able to adjust to the height, the cars were also damaged. As they rise to the top of the mountain, where the air is thin, their engines struggle to produce as much power as they did below. The mountain is open to visitors during normal working hours, so temperatures fluctuate significantly during the day. Each practice session is held early in the morning while it is still cold. This means that the conditions on race day are not accurately reflected in real life. “Tire pressures, the engine, they don’t perform as well in the heat,” she said. “Only when you get all the way up do you notice the difference between the engine’s panting for air at the top and the tires’ freshness and performance at the bottom?” It’s pretty sticky and oily. Luckily, these situations affect all drivers except those who drive electric cars. Due to strong winds at the peak, race officials decided only to allow the first two sections of the track. Legge’s effort to set a new front-wheel-drive record this year fell short. “I’m disappointed because I truly believe we could have shattered the record,” she said. “We were about five and a half to six seconds ahead halfway up the mountain, so by the summit, we likely would have been 10 to 15 seconds in the clear.” Even though the mountain run is only a short distance, she is impressed by how fast she is going. “It really shows how much progress Acura and HRC have made over the past year improving power retention during the climb, enhancing tire performance, and refining the car’s handling over bumps,” she said. Legge still wants to break that record, even though the pieces for next year’s game haven’t been put together yet. She said, “It’s never easy to walk away with unfinished business.” Still, she acknowledged that both racing and the mountain can be unpredictable. “I’m confident my luck will turn around soon,” she added.
