Peugeot 208 unbeatable at Pikes Peak

Despite setting the fastest time on the final day of qualifying today (Friday) at the perilous 20km long Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, USA, defending record holder Rhys Millen doubts his chances of beating Peugeot on race day.

He even says nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb could set a record that will never be beaten on Sunday June 30, such is the Peugeot 208 T16's insane pace on the terrifying 156 corner course.

"If they have a good run on Sunday, I don’t think you'll ever see that record fall again. I'm serious," said Millen, who had just finished the final qualifying session of the week in his bonkers 671kW Hyundai Genesis Coupe PM580T race car.

"How fast that [Peugeot] car is going is incredible," Millen told a small Australian media contingent in Colorado, at what is one of the USA's oldest and most eclectic motorsport events.

In its 91st year, the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has umpteen categories, including motorcycles, quads, trucks, cars, and the drawcard 'unlimited' class in which Millen and Loeb will be duking it out. Check out our Pikes Peak International Hill Climb introduction for more details on the 'race to the clouds'.

Qualifying hasn't gone smoothly for the defending champion and though Millen showed good speed today, the New Zealand-born drift-king was outpaced in Wednesday's qualifying by a European assault. Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot 208 T16) was fastest with 3.26 and Swiss-born Romain Dumas (Norma M20FCPP) was second with 3.43. Millen was third with 3.51.

Thursday saw Millen's turbocharged Hyundai V6 engine expire and had to sit out the second of the three qualifying days (the 20km course is split into three sections for qualifying), as the European invasion continued with Loeb, Dumas and Dayraut (MINI Countryman) in first, second and third with times of 2.12, 2.26 and 2.29 respectively.

Motoring.com.au asked Millen if the Peugeot 208 T16 of Sebastien Loeb was beatable on Sunday. He said: "Not on this road and not with this car."

"We're on top today," said Millen, who was happy with his performance and magnanimous about Peugeot's big-budget assault.

"Respectfully I understand their approach. If I could get that support and have that program, sure you would want that. I have no negatives towards it, I think it's incredible to watch the workmanship and the way those guys work ... It's an incredible car. It's a 4WD F1 car."

The Pikes Peak stalwart also said Peugeot's (and Loeb's) entry to the mountain race that winds its way to a staggering 4300-metre summit finish line will have pros and cons.

"Two things are gonna come out of it," he said. "The media attention is going to increase and the ability for the manufacturers to compete in the unlimited division, I think, is going to suffer. The sheer quantity of dollars that has been thrown at Peugeot's effort has never been seen before."

If Peugeot breaks Millen's record of 9:46 by a big margin on race day, Millen doubts if the European car maker will return in 2014.

Can Peugeot set an unbeatable record at Pikes Peak in 2013? Stay tuned for all the results on Monday morning and we'll have more insights into the mind-boggling race in an upcoming issue of the free motoring iPad app.