MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- No guardrails keep competitors from the edge as they race to the clouds each year for the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb -- a 12.4-mile sprint up the 14,110-foot matron of the Rocky Mountains.

A long-standing tradition in Colorado Springs, it is considered one of the most extreme motorsports competitions in the world. Entrants in as many as 17 divisions bring vehicles ranging from motorcycles to semi trucks to the contest.

The hill climb starts on asphalt and transitions to a tricky, winding gravel course to the summit. Drivers reach speeds of over 130-miles-per-hour around blind curves, thwarting thousand-foot drop-offs at each of the 156 turns.

Competitors go prepared for anything, facing blinding sunlight as the sun rises over the peak in the early morning, sweltering heat at the base and sometimes even snow, ice and gusting winds at the summit.

If that wasn't challenging enough, the course brings an added test for the Rally America class. An estimated 25 top-flight competitors will take their cars through about 50 miles of grueling competition stages on the famed hill over three days � next Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Among the entrants to watch will be Leon Styles, who bested the field last year in his Open class Mitsubishi, and 2004 rally champion Patrick Richard, who set a new Group N record for the climb in his first attempt last year.

Many fans know Pikes Peak from Jean Louis Mourey's Climb Dance, an incredible short film of Ari Vatanen's record-setting 1988 run. It is automotive ballet as Vatanen gracefully slides his four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer, turbocharged Peugeot 405 T16 Coupe to the summit, trailing plumes of fine dust. The engine growls, gravel flies and, for one breathless moment, the tail of the vehicle seems to hang motionless over a bottomless drop as Vatanen slides through a turn. He turned in a record 10:47.77 that year.

The 2005 race marks the 83rd annual climb. Rea Lentz won the inaugural 1916 event with a time of 20 minutes, 55.6 seconds. Walter Roehrl was the first driver to crack the 11-minute mark in 1987 and in 1994, New Zealander Rod Millen drove his heavily modified Toyota Celica to the overall record of 10:04.06 that still stands today.

The Pikes Peak Hill Climb and rally will serve as the fourth round of the 2005 Rally America Championship and is also included in this year's North American Rally Cup.

Rally America, Inc., based in Minneapolis, Minn., holds the sanctioning and marketing rights to the Rally America Championship.

Contact information:
J.B. Niday, Managing Director, Rally America, Inc. Tel: +1.763.553.2742; [email protected], www.rally-america.com