The 104th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) took place this past Sunday in Colorado, with 75 entries overall and four BMWs on the entry list, including Tom Tang with his highly modified E46 M3 in the Unlimited – Production class, and three M4 GT4 EVO entries with drivers Catesby Jones, Carlos de Quesada and Zach Lumsden. Tom Tang didn’t reach his goal but he had a great run to finish second in class behind overall winner Romain Dumas, and Jones and de Quesada finished second and third in the GT4 class with a pair of M4 GT4 EVOs.
The weather was good enough this year at Pikes Peak that competitors went the whole way up the mountain. In 2025, the route was cut short due to weather. If you’ve followed along with our stories on Tom Tang’s preparation for the event, you would know his goal was to get up in under 10 minutes – something only 36 drivers had done in all the previous years the event has run.
Tom Tang finished second in class and fifteenth overall. (Photo courtesy PPIHC)
Unfortunately for Tang, an oil pressure warning light came on at just the wrong time. “I smashed my personal best by about 25 seconds (in 2024 as a rookie) with a time of 10:06.413, and while I should be ecstatic that this result equals a podium finish, second place in the class behind Romain Dumas and 15th overall out of 75 cars, I’m also bummed that I lost focus when a low oil pressure warning took over the dash three corners before Double Cut,” said Tang. “I got distracted, braked just a hair later than I needed to and slid into the gravel but managed to avoid the brick wall. I decided to just keep my foot in it, since there was no impact, even though I wasn’t sure if I had a splitter anymore.”
Tang didn’t get up in under 10 minutes, but his time of 10:06.413 is damn fast. It makes him the third fastest driver to ever take a BMW up Pikes Peak, with only James Clay and Tim Hardy posting faster runs. After three runs up the mountain since 2024, Tang said he’d love to go back at some point but says they are at the limit for the E46 M3 platform he’s been driving.
The pair of Team ACP – Tangerine M4 GT4 EVOs finished second and third in the GT4 class. (Photo by AJ Latteri)
Team ACP – Tangerine, led by team owner Catesby Jones also went to Pikes Peak with a pair of M4 GT4 EVOs for Jones and Carlos de Quesada, who both have a lot of racing experience but were rookies at Pikes Peak. “The road is very, very challenging,” said Jones. “There’s a ton of corners that look very similar, like hairpins, and then of course, there’s the notorious blind turns which are quite shocking. It takes a lot of commitment but is such a cool challenge.”
Jones and de Quesada both performed well. Jones finished second in the GT4 Trophy by Yokohama – Turbo class behind the more experienced Laura Hayes in a Toyota Supra GT4 and finished 20th overall with a time of 10:24.719. “It was beautiful on race day but extremely dusty, dustier when I drove up than in any other practice session we had, so I ended up having a little slower segment time than I was hoping,” said Jones. “I’d love to do it again. For anyone that has a GT4 car, I highly recommend it if they want to do something besides just drive around on a track.”
De Quesada finished third in the GT4 class and 28th overall. A third M4 GT4 EVO, driven by Zach Lumsden for Colorado MotorSport, finished fourth in the GT4 class and 34th overall.
Carlos de Quesada begins a run up the mountain. (Photo courtesy PPIHC)
Next year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb will be held on Sunday June 20th, 2027. To watch highlights from this year as well as past events, visit the PPIHC YouTube page.
—David Haueter
[Top photo by Up the Peak Media, additional photos courtesy Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, Catesby Jones, AJ Latteri]