Yesterday, Romain Dumas - winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010 with Audi and in 2016 with Porsche - nearly suffered the same fate as in 2013 at Pikes Peak when he stopped just a few meters beyond the starting line, but this time the all-new Norma MXX managed to rally to the finish line, and also clock the best time, allowing the World Endurance Champion to defend his title successfully.

While the loss of power in 2013 was crippling, this time a broken spark plug during the first part of the hill climb caused Romain Dumas to reach the checkered flag at the "race to the clouds" without beating his existing record, which was one of his goals. A true competitor at heart, the French native can't bring himself to be fully pleased with his performance: “It’s difficult to put words to this victory," he admits with sincerity. “The primary objective was to win, which is what we did and it’s never easy here. Never. I even questioned whether I’d get to the summit…The second objective was to get closer to the outright record. After the practice days, we had a decent idea of what kind of overall time was possible. But unfortunately, this will remain a hypothetical time after the broken spark plugs, and that’s disappointing. We got first place but we wanted so much more that I’m unable to feel completely satisfied today."

Romain Dumas has now joined Japanese driver Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, winner from 2006 to 2011, the last to retain his crown, and the Norma, with three wins, has matched Peugeot whose last victory dates back to 2013 with Sébastien Loeb, nine-time World Rally Champion and still record-holder at the hill climb with a time of 8:13'878.

After Dakar at the beginning of the year, the two French drivers, second at the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans, will reunite at the Turckheim hill climb (Haut-Rhin) on September 10th with the Norma MXX and the Peugeot 208 T16 which brought them to victory across the Atlantic.

In the meantime, after winning his class at the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de Corse (Corsica), Romain Dumas, still an official Porsche driver but with a more relaxed program this year, will enter the Porsche 911 GT3 at the upcoming Barum Rally in the Czech Republic.

Quotation from driver press release.

PHOTO (Copyright - romaindumas.com): Romain Dumas crosses the finish line in first place at the Pikes Peak hill climb.