Double World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm has vowed to return to Pikes Peak in an effort to make up for his disappointing debut at the event on Sunday.
Gronholm's 800bhp, rallycross-derived Ford Fiesta finished second in the unlimited class, more than a minute behind former Suzuki World Rally Team boss Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, who won the event in his Suzuki Sport XL7.
Gronholm said: "It would be nice to come back here again, but next time to be prepared."
Gronholm had only driven the Fiesta briefly before leaving Europe and was hampered by overheating on the event itself. His teammate, Swedish rallycross star Andreas Eriksson's event was even worse as he rolled the sister car to Gronholm's in practice and crashed again during his timed run yesterday.
Tajima's victory time was 14 seconds slower than his own record, meaning the 10-minute barrier has still not been beaten. Britain's Mark Rennison made the summit in his RS200, third in the unlimited class, but almost two minutes down on Tajima's Suzuki.