Hill Climb rookie Dani Sordo shines in first race in Colorado | Auto

Until The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Dani Sordo had little experience with the race.

In fact, Sordo only had one practice run in his race car to learn the road and get acclimated to the track.

The rookie did well.

In Sordo’s first Hill Climb, he placed first in the exhibition class and third overall and clocked 9 minutes 30.852 seconds.

“The roads felt nice and I’m really happy with my run,” said Sordo. “The car was working well and I didn’t push too hard.”

Sordo hoped to take more risks during the run, but said he didn’t feel comfortable testing the roads with just one practice run in his competition vehicle.

Although Sordo did not have many races in his competition vehicle, he still managed to discover his course.

Most of Sordo’s training took place in a Hyundai sedan, rather than the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N TA Spec.

“It’s difficult because of the size and weight of the car,” Sordo said. “It’s difficult to calculate the speed of a normal car versus a competition car. In a normal car, you have to climb very slowly and you see the road in a different way compared to a racing car, which is lower to the ground.”

But Sordo’s lack of preparation in his vehicle didn’t matter.

The Hill Climb rookie held first place for most of the morning and of the race finishers, Sordo had the third fastest opening, second and third sections of the race’s four segments.

Sordo clocked 1:41.238 in section one; 2:16,761 in the second section; and 2:44,892 in section three.

Only Romain Dumas, who won the Hill Climb with a time of 8:53.553, and Christian Merli, who finished second overall in 9:04.454, posted better section times in the first three zones of the race.

“With what I’ve been able to do in practice in the little time I’ve had, I’m good with what I’ve accomplished,” Sordo said. “In some places I didn’t want to take too many risks, so I’m fine with the run we had.”

Sordo’s top speed of 75.676 also placed him third, behind Dumas and Merli, who also had the top two speeds of the day.

“My time and pace were good enough to put me in third place,” Sordo said. “I think (Dumas and Merli) are strong competitors and very fast. I’m not upset about where I placed.”