They may be a little less dusty this year, but the 156 turns of Pikes Peak represent no less of a challenge when you’re hitting them as fast as you can while, just about, not falling off.

Battling rain, hail and icy temperatures, and this ever-present challenge, Romain Dumas climbed The Mountain in just??9:46.181 at the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, setting a new course record in his wonderfully-curvaceous Porsche??911 GT3 R.

Unfortunately for him veteran??Rhys Millen was??up soon after and set a time of??9:46.164, sneaking by for the course record by the narrowest of margins.

Romain did take the open class win, however, and has provided this video so that you can hop into his??911 GT3 R and join him for a 9:46.181 run up Pikes Peak.

And, because I miss the charm of the old circuit with its dirt roads and progressive surface changes, this is Ari Vatanen, his??600hp Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 GR and a 1988 record-breaking 10:47 run in Climb Dance.