EX JP Media staffer, Expat Aussie and all round good guy Rennie Scaysbrook has won the 2019 edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb aboard his Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory.

Rennie clean swept the event, winning the Heavyweight division, the King of The Mountain title, as well as setting a new record time in the motorcycle category. A fantastic result for Rennie, and as another feather in the cap, he is also the first Australian to achieve this great feat.

Rennie Scaysbrook the moment he is told he had run the sub 10-minute record pass. Pic: Larry Chen

Leading up to the 2019 Pikes Peak even Scaysbrook started from scratch, taking a bone stock 2019 Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory and was set with the task of turning it in to a racebike capable of winning the event in just a matter of months. With the support of Pirelli, Scaysbrook and his team put in countless hours of development and testing to get the bike close to where it needed to be before venturing across to the mountain for the tyre test in the lead up to the event.

With some very good times laid down in qualifying, it was obvious Scaysbrook was going to be in contention come race day, and in his final practice Rennie focussed on tyre testing, testing both the Pirelli Superbike SC0’s and SC1’s to finalise his decision on tyre choice for his race run.

Rennie Scaysbrook sideways on his record run to the top of Pikes Peak. Pic: Taylor Robbins.

With weather conditions fine and clear for race day, it all came down to putting it all together in the race run. After qualifying well, Scaysbrook was one of the last to set off, and pushed hard early determined to notch his first win at the prestigious hill climb event. With a couple of small mistakes early through the hairpin section, Rennie more than made up for those mistakes to lay down a record time of 9:44.963, well under the fabled 10 minute barrier.

After crossing the finish line, Rennie was exuberant, and exclaimed “that was the most intense 10 minutes of my life.” Extremely satisfied with the time of 9 minutes 44, thoughts moved to seeing the last of the competitors crossing the finish line and seeing how his time would stand up.

Unfortunately celebrations would be put on hold, as an overwhelming sense of shock and grief would grip the Pikes Peak paddock, as news filtered through that Ducati V4 Streetfighter prototype racer Carlin Dunne had crashed and passed away. Carlin had been a mentor and a friend to Rennie, and was regarded as a legend of the mountain having won the event 4 times and was looking like the man to beat at the 2019 event. Our thoughts go out to Carlin Dunne’s family and friends. Godspeed Carlin. 

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