SWEDE OBERG PLOTS PIKES PEAK ASSAULT
Swedish rallycross driver Dan Oberg has secured an entry to the coveted Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for 2023, where he will compete with his ex-Hedstroms Motorsport Volkswagen Polo Supercar.
Oberg initially stepped into rallycross with a Volkswagen Scirocco, before switching to the Polo, but hasn’t competed regularly since 2021. Now, he will switch his focus to following in the footsteps of former rallycross drivers such as Per Eklund, Martin Schanche and Mark Rennison in taking to the famous hillclimb.
“This was just a crazy idea that started at work when me and my mechanics saw a video of Max Verstappen totally eating up the Nordschleife with the Red Bull Formula 1 car,” Oberg told MN. “I asked how many corners is it on Nordschleife and we didn’t know, but my mechanic said that Pikes Peak is 156 corners. So I said ‘why the hell don’t we do that?’Then I sent the application.”
Oberg says the challenge is not insignificant. “Of course, this is a childhood dream, something I never in my life thought would reality for me,” he explained. “We can’t do any proper testing since we can’t get as high [as Pikes Peak] here, so we are building in what we believe is best.
“The car will have a gigantic aero package, dry-ice cooling for brakes and a big turbo. The main target is to win, but that will be a little hard, so I’d like to beat Per [Eklund]’s time [from 2002] and to make it up the mountain in one piece.”
Oberg’s Polo will leave Sweden in April ready for the June event in Colorado Springs.