Amelia-Bound Porsche 935-19 Aims For More Pikes Peak Records

August 31, 2020 by Amelia Island Concours

Jacksonville, FL - Since 1958 Porsches have won 40 international hillclimb championships with modified road cars and purpose built racers. Yet one of Zuffenhausen's most successful was never meant to compete on the mountain roads.

Porsche's world conquering 935 turbo was not created to be a hill climber or to compete or even run on anything other than the smooth pampered circuits of Europe or the purpose built speedways and 'rovals' of North America. That changes this weekend at the 98th Pikes Peak Hillclimb.

Porsche enthusiast and loyalist Jeff Zwart has set records scoring eight victories (1994-'98, 2002, 2010, 2015) in the legendary Pikes Peak Hillclimb, each one powered by Porsche. In 2020 Zwart chose the new 935-19, the tribute version of the Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring winner for his annual assault of the 156 turn, 12.42 mile course with no guardrails and huge drop-offs. It's a climb of 14,115 feet to the finish line in the unforgiving 'race to the clouds.'

'I like when there is a good story involved,' said Zwart. 'The 935 is built to maximize performance in the current Pikes Peak conditions. So, naturally when the new 935 was released I was attracted to it visually and the stories it could tell. At the same time, it seems like a great package to take on Pikes Peak.'

Zwart's accomplishments on Pikes Peak are many. He has claimed eight class wins and set three division records. In 2015 he joined the '9-Minute Club' with a sub-10-minute time of 9:46.243 when he captured the Time Attack 1 record. He will take on ten competitors with his Porsche 935-19 in the Time Attack 1 division this year.

Zwart's #11 Porsche 935-19 is a single-seat race car based on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS road car. The 3,042 lbs. (1380 Kg) rear-engine machine is powered by a twin-turbocharged 700 HP, 3.8-liter flat-six engine. The seven-speed PDK gearbox transfers the power to the rear-wheels. The bodyshell is created from an aluminum-steel composite with carbon-fiber and Kevlar parts added to improve aerodynamics and overall stability. Zwart, a recent inductee into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Hall of Fame, successfully tested the car at Willow Springs Raceway (California) earlier this summer.

Porsche first appeared at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1958. The German marque won its class for the first time in 1960 and has since left its mark on the 'Race to the Clouds' capturing 27 class victories and twice turning the quickest time for the overall win.

The first Pikes Peak Hill Climb was run in 1916 on a gravel circuit carved up to the Mountain's summit. By 2012, the full 12.42-mile, 156-turn circuit was paved over, up to the 14,115-foot pinnacle. The race itself starts at the seven-mile marker giving competitors a 4,725-foot elevation change during their timed run.

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Fans will be able to watch the 98th Pikes Peak Hillclimb on the official PPIHC YouTube Channel and the Mobil 1 Facebook page. Amelia-bound Porsche fans will be able to see Zwart's 935-19 Pikes Peak record challenger, owned and displayed by the Ingram Collection, on Sunday March 7th as part of The Amelia's Porsche 935 Class.

'Hill climbing is an exacting motorsport discipline,' said Bill Warner, founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours. 'There are no second chances, no do-overs; everything has to be inch perfect on every run. Pikes Peak makes it that much harder because there are no guard rails or runoffs. A mistake on this mountain has profound and immediate consequences. We'll be cheering Jeff on so that in 2021 we can add the Pikes Peak 935-19 tribute to the list of Porsche winners and champions that have been part of The Amelia since our founding in 1996.'