Ford made a triumphant showing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with their F-150 Lightning SuperTruck delivering a dominant performance. Piloted by Romain Dumas, the SuperTruck completed the 12.4-mile (20 km) course in an impressive 8 minutes and 53.553 seconds, making it the fastest among all 61 competitors.
The SuperTruck’s stellar performance saw it finish more than 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Christian Merli, who was driving a 2024 Wolf GB08 and completed the course in 9:04.454. Dani Sordo, in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N TA, rounded out the top three with a time of 9:30.852.
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While the SuperTruck’s time was slower than last year’s SuperVan 4.2, which posted a time of 8:47.682, the result was not unexpected as the SuperTruck encountered a “technical issue” during its run, requiring it to come to a complete stop. Dumas managed to “completely reset” the truck and get it back in working order, but the issue added about 26 seconds to his time.
Despite the setback, Dumas remained determined, stating, “Everything about this event is a challenge because it is unlike any other form of racing, you only have one shot. We faced a challenge early on but that only gave me more determination to make up the lost time in the rest of the run.”
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In a surprising revelation, Ford announced that their previous statement regarding the SuperTruck’s powertrain was conservative. The SuperTruck actually boasts a tri-motor powertrain producing a staggering 1,600 horsepower (1,193 kW / 1,622 PS), making it more than three times as powerful as the standard electric pickup.
