| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 1999 | Contact: | Jeff Zwart, Antlers Adams Mark (719) 473-5600 or Andy Schupack, KGPR (401) 739-5677 Andrew_Schupack@compuserve.com |
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado -- As practice gets underway for the 77th annual Pikes Peak International Hillclimb "Race to the Clouds," special attention normally goes to the drivers who are pursuing longevity records. One such driver is Woody Creek, Colorado champion Jeff Zwart, who has piloted various Porsches to five straight class wins.
This year, Zwart will be seeking the High Performance Showroom Stock title in the 1997 Porsche Turbo-S, the same car that has brought him victories the past two seasons, but all those wins don't mean anything as the quest for July 4 gold begins for everyone on an equal footing.
"All 151 competitors have a time of zero before the week begins, with no one having made any mistakes and no one completing that perfect run," said Zwart, a 43 year-old television commercial director. "Not only does the Hill look different every year, but it seems to change character from run to run. Our goals in practice over the next few days will be to determine braking zones, and discovering which corners have good grip and which ones have poor grip before we turn it up a notch for qualifying."
Zwart's racing career started in Formula Fords in the early '80s and spread to a national championship win in the SCCA Pro Rally series in 1990 in a Mazda 323GTX built by Rod Millen. After several Pro Rally wins in 1994 in a Porsche Carrera 4, Zwart starting concentrating his racing efforts on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. His five straight wins - all in Porsches - have been split between the Open class and High Performance Showroom Stock.
He will traverse the course in a 1997 Porsche Turbo-S using a 3.6-liter Porsche Twin Turbo, six-cylinder engine which produces 430 horsepower. Shod with BFGoodrich tires, the car has a six-speed transmission and it the current record-holder in High Performance Showroom Stock.
"This class get more competitive every year," said Zwart, "with a full-blown world rally car adding excitement for 1999. But we think the experience that our team has will put us in good position to win on Sunday."
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be "webcast" live this year for the first time, starting at 10:00 AM (Mountain time) on July 4, with feature still photos every three minutes, results from each division, and live audio commentary from KRDO-AM radio, which is broadcasting the event locally. The webcast, as well as all pre-race and post-race information, will appear on the official Pikes Peak web site http://www.ppihc.com.
The race cars practice from June 29 - July 1, qualify July 2 - July 3, and race on July 4.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is held annually on July 4 in cooperation with the City of Colorado Springs and the U.S. Forest Service. Its 12.42-mile course on a groomed gravel highway to the 14,110-ft. summit of Pikes Peak is open to the public year-round.
Porsche Cars North America -- Bob Carlson, Public Relations bcarlson@pcnaidcs.com
Zwart Design Group Racing Website: http://www.zwartracing.com