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With the days of legends like Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham now part of racing history, driver-constructors have become extremely rare in modern motorsport. However, Pikes Peak racer Robin Shute revived that tradition this year by debuting his self-built machine, the "SendyCar," at the iconic hill climb. His efforts paid off with a class victory in this event, which has been held for more than a hundred years. While the story behind the car’s creation is impressive, the footage of the actual run is even more extraordinary.

Although the SendyCar has not yet reached its complete performance potential, Shute managed to clock his fastest-ever time up the mountain. His latest run was visibly quicker than his 2023 winning performance in a modified Wolf prototype. The rear-wheel-drive open-wheeler, built on a Tatuus Formula 4 chassis, can be seen flexing and bouncing as it conquers the demanding course. With around 850 hp available at sea level, power is delivered to the massive slick tyres through the rear wheels, while a motorcycle-derived V-8 engine produces an unmistakably high-pitched roar throughout the climb.

Shute completed the run in 8 minutes and 29.427 seconds, securing second place overall and first in the Super Unlimited class. More significantly, this performance shattered the previous record for any rear-wheel-drive car at Pikes Peak by nearly eight seconds. It was among several noteworthy records set during this year’s event, with Shute’s time surpassing the new all-time production car record set by the Corvette ZR1X by just over a minute.

The overall victory at the 2024 edition of Pikes Peak went to Romain Dumas, who piloted a Ford Mach-E-bodied prototype to a total time of 8 minutes and 18.202 seconds, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of Shute. However, Dumas’s run still fell short of the sub-8-minute all-time record he achieved in 2018 driving for Volkswagen. Shute mentioned in a discussion with Road & Track that he and his team, The Sendy Club, are optimistic about further refining the SendyCar in the coming years with the goal of challenging that overall record in the near future.