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Carlin Dunne died in a crash at the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), riding the Ducati Streetfighter V4 Prototype.
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He was in the process of setting a new record.
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The race was won by Rennie Scaysbrook on a 2018 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100.
Rider Carlin Dunne died while racing the Ducati Streetfighter V4 Prototype at the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC).
Dunne had qualified in pole position a day earlier and everyone had tipped that he would win his fourth PPIHC race, and set the fastest ever time for a motorcycle in the “Race to the Clouds.”
All eyes the world over was on him and the Ducati as the prototype will serve as the precursor to the most powerful naked sportbike ever built. Ducati had stripped down the Panigale V4 and fitted a taller handlebar to it for the race.
Rennie Scaysbrook had set the fastest time ever previously at 9m44.963s on his 2018 Aprilia Tuono V4 1100. That time was already 5.6 seconds faster than the 9m49.625s set by Chris Fillimore on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R in 2017.
Dunne went out last and logged the fastest times in three out of four sectors. He was ahead by 1.3s in Segment 1, 2.5s in Segment 2 and nearly 4s in Segment 3. Then tragedy struck as he crashed less than 400 metres to the finish line near the highest point of the mountain.
As such, Rennie Scaysbrook won the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) on the Aprilia, with his time entered as the new record. The win was Aprilia’s first in the heavyweight category.
Dunne had won the PPIHC race three times previously, all on Ducatis. He won in 2011 and 2012 on the Multistrada 1200, and last year on the Multistrada 1260. Ducati went on to produce the Pikes Peak Edition Multistradas to commemorate the rider’s achievements.
The PPIHC is where non-sportbikes battle it out for supremacy, hence you’d find bikes such as the Streetfighter, BMW S 1000 R, KTM 1290 Super Duke R, et al. Competitors are flagged off at sea level and ride up the 156-corner, 20-kilometre (12.42-mile) road to the finish line 4302 metres (14,115 feet) up the hill.
