Jeff Zwart's Pikes Peak diary – Unfinished business

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second-oldest motorsports event in America. First contested in 1916, this weekend will mark the 92nd running of the "Race to the Clouds."

Accomplished Porsche racer, photographer, commercial director and RACER co-founder Jeff Zwart is a seven-time class winner in this unique race, run on a 12.42-mile course with 156 turns that begins at 9,390ft and finishes at the 14,115ft summit of "America's Mountain." He's returning this year and will be relating all the twists and turns here at RACER.com. -Ed.

Heading back to Pikes Peak this year is a special time for two reasons. First it marks the 20th year since my first win at the Peak with a Porsche. And second, it is a bit of "unfinished business." Last year I was driving probably one of the best Porsches I had ever driven. We had hit all our target times and felt like we would go under the record and win the class. On race day after a week of positives, we were hit by the worst weather I have ever experienced in my years of racing up here. On my run we were hit by rain and hail and snow. The car I was driving had nearly 750 horsepower at the wheels and combined with slicks, our run was more than disappointing. So, this year we are back with the same car to show what hopefully could have been last year.

Pikes Peak is a unique racecourse and practice has even more unique hours. We leave the hotel at 3 a.m. to get up on the mountain by 4 a.m.. We set up our pit and I have to attend a driver's meeting at 5 a.m.... by 5:30 we are racing! We have to be off the mountain by 8;30am since it goes back to be open to the public at that hour. The mountain is divided in three sections and we practice a different third each day making race day the first day that we actually make a full run on the mountain.

I have raced so many years that the mountain is no mystery to me. The race is approximently the same length as one lap at Nurburgring, so it is quite complex to learn as a rookie. I am running the same car that I did in 2013 and it was good to get back into it. Over the winter we changed the gear ratios and went with a longer gears to make it a little less "busy" in the car. The new gears changed the cadence in the car so it is a lot more comfortable. With 156 turns there, its a huge advantage to have a few less shifts. Now that the event is completely paved, we carry so much speed everywhere that its nice to focus on a few other things rather than shifting so much.

Really looking forward to seeing how the weekend unfolds. next up is qualifying, but we have hit all our target times to this point, so things are looking good.

-Jeff