Rob Barber has won the Electric Motorcycle class at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb held on Sunday 25th June in Colorado.
Rob, who happens to be a ACU Club Coach already has his name in the history books having won the first ever Electric Bike race on the Isle Of Man TT Course in 2009, has now added the Pikes Peak Electric Motorcycle division title to his racing resume, the first person to have won in both events.
Rob completed the 12.42 mile road course which incorporates 156 turns and an elevation change of over 4,500 feet in a time of 10 mins 55.500 secs, taking the Electric Motorcycle class win and finishing 11th overall within the 29 strong field of motorcycles and quads.
This was Rob's second time competing at Pikes Peak and his 5th year riding for the students of Ohio State University's Buckeye Current Racing Team, the team that he got 3rd places finishes in the 2013 & 2014 Isle of Man TT Zero Races with.
Following their TT Race successes the team decided to focus efforts on the Colorado hill climb now in its 95th year of running and Rob decided to do the same this year, forgoing his normal Irish Road Race & TT entries to spend more time with the team in America ahead of the week-long event
Speaking after his descent from the summit in the Parade Of Champions, Rob was full of praise for the Buckeye Current Team.
“So most of you will know I won my class at Pikes Peak. It wasn't all plain sailing as I struggled at speed on the bottom section due to lack of practice. Also within a mile from the finish I ran low on energy so lost a lot of time. Lady Luck was on our side as my close rival had a little off losing him time.
I have to confess coming back down I did shed a little tear inside my helmet. I'm so proud of my OSU team they really do deserve this win as they work so hard and we have just been plagued with bad luck. But the never give up attitude paid off!!
There are some pretty emotional statistics emerging which are really impressive.
Speak soon I'm off to celebrate with my kids”
More information is available on the Pikes Peak website
http://www.ppihc.com or on Facebook pages Buckeye Current Racing or PRB Racing.