Former AMCN staffer Rennie Scaysbrook will tackle ‘America’s Mountain’ for the third time when he races up the 156 turns of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on his Team Cycle News/KTM North America 1290 Super Duke R on 24 June.

Scaysbrook finished an impressive fourth overall (and second in his Heavyweight category) on his 2016 Pikes Peak debut, despite crashing three-quarters of the way up the course and remounting unhurt to finish the race.

He returned in 2017, this time with track experience and a determination to right his wrongs from the previous year. His 9m57.712s run was good enough to make him one of just five riders in the event’s 102-year history to have reached the top in under 10 minutes, though the Aussie was pipped to the post by KTM teammate and AMA Superbike star Chris Filmore, who raced to the top in 9m45.625s.

Filmore will again campaign a KTM in the 2018 event, albeit in a different category to Scaysbrook, using the firm’s newly launched 790 Duke. He will surely have his goals set for the coveted outright win.

Also vying for victory will be a three-time winner, former outright record holder and current electric record holder, Carlin Dunne, who in 2011 became the first rider to reach the top in under 10 minutes, riding a Ducati Multistrada.

“I can’t wait to get back to the mountain this year,” said Scaysbrook. “[It] will be very tough as there are several really fast riders on the grid. I’m sure the times will be close, but we’ll be fighting with everything we’ve got to come out on top.

“This is my third year at the mountain and I want to enjoy my time at this incredible event, relax and have fun – that’s when the speed comes.

“I feel totally comfortable on this machine. It’s a bike I have a lot of experience with after racing one for the last two years at Pikes Peak.

“The huge amount of torque on offer from the 1301cc V-twin, as well as the nimble chassis, make it the ideal machine for such a unique race.”