Kim doubles vintage Quattro fun in Pikes Peak debut

With just over two weeks until The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, presented by Gran Turismo storms the mountain, drivers and teams are arriving in Colorado Springs to begin early morning testing sessions.

The 20-plus rookie competitors registered for the 103rd Running have taken any number of different paths to get here. Some have spent their lives running up front in other hill climbs or rallies the world over, others have made names for themselves as media personalities, and others still have extensive experience in the event outside of the cockpit.

For Alex Kim, though, his rookie appearance is the unique fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Audi’s famous Quattro efforts on the mountain inspired young racers around the globe and now, Kim will campaign an Audi S1 E2 tribute in conjunction with Rayteam Autosport, which expands from one Group B tribute machine to two for its second campaign.

“I’ve been drawn to Pikes Peak since the 1980s,” Kim explains. “As a teenager growing up in America, I was obsessed with Audi and followed the international rally scene as closely as I could – magazines, VHS tapes, anything I could get my hands on. Hearing about John Buffum racing Audis up Pikes Peak in the early ’80s felt larger than life.”

“But the defining era for me was 1985 to 1987. That stretch, with Michèle Mouton, Bobby Unser, and Walter Röhrl winning in the Audi Sport Quattro S1, just burned into my memory. From that point on, I followed the competition almost every year. It’s always felt like this mythical event. Getting to compete now feels like a full-circle moment.”

Although he was decades away from first heading to the mountain, Kim’s career behind the wheel of Audis would start in that same era. He won the Utah high school drag racing championship in 1986, bracket racing his first car, an Audi 4000S. From there, he’d move on to autocross and road racing, including the Optima Ultimate Street Car Series and NASA. This year, he has started racing a Lamborghini Super Tropheo EVO2 on track.

A few years ago, the opportunity arose for Kim to bring his racing inspirations full circle. He met Alex Zajac, whose Poland-based Group B Garage was capable of building replica cars of some of rallying’s most iconic machines. In lieu of acquiring one of a real S1 E2 – which Kim admits is essentially “impossible to get” – he commissioned an S1 E2 tribute out of two donor cars.

“(My car) is one of the best Audi S1 tribute cars in the US,” Kim says. “The dimensions, livery, and carbon-Kevlar body panels replicate the 1985/86 Group B race car, the dash is also a close tribute to the original, (but) all of the safety equipment including the safety cage are current FIA homologation. Of course, it’s powered by a turbo-charged 5 cylinder Audi engine (in this case a 20V AAN motor instead of the 10V motors of the ’80s). The car is street legal, titled and registered in Utah.”

“I’ve always been really interested in race cars based off of production cars, or production cars that are homologation for race cars. Since I got into cars, whether it was any drag racing or watching rally racing, these are like production cars that are race cars. Pikes Peak Open kind of feels like we’ve got (everything) from street cars to highly modified cars, but it really has a lot of them with that street race car with a license plate on it kind of feel. I think it’s a really cool division and I’m excited to see all of these cars.”

It wasn’t long after Kim’s import was complete that he met Frank Ocsai, owner of Rayteam Autosport, through social media. Ocsai’s team already had experience running at Pikes Peak after making their debut last year with Laszlo Keskeny, also in an Audi Group B tribute car – and the challenge was too good for Kim to pass up.

“Once I had imported the Audi S1, I started coming into contact with other Audi enthusiasts throughout the country,” Kim says. “I met Frank and had many discussions about his hill climb team. He informed me that he had a potential spot for me for Pikes Peak, so we started the application process. Honestly, it all happened so fast; however, I don’t understate the enormity of this opportunity.”

“Racing in the PPIHC is a lifelong dream I often thought might never happen. Doing it in an Audi Sport Quattro makes it one of the biggest bucket list moments of my life. It’s surreal, and deeply personal.”

Fun fact about Alex Kim: “My wife and I ran an international UCI professional women’s cycling team for 12 years. We raced all over the world with riders from eight different countries which included Olympians and World Champions. We’ve retired the team, but sponsor individual athletes and teams – mostly focusing on female athletes in cycling, skating, and motorsports. We are also co-owners of a movie production firm.”

Must-Haves on the Mountain: “I’ve opted to use oxygen since that’s allowed – I think that’s just the smart thing to do at 14,000ft. I mean, obviously the must haves going through the rulebook, the car has got to be legal. And we’ll have all the required equipment. But, really, I think just having the Rayteam crew there, plus my crew chief from my road racing team, and Brandon Tolley, will all be essential to my success for sure.”

Biggest challenges: “It’s a couple things that I’ve been thinking about the most. The first is the altitude, which is going to be really hard on the car. With the big turbo, if it’s trying to make power at the top section, you can overspin the turbo and the car can overheat because of the thin air and not getting enough cooling through the radiator. So, how we’re going to set up the car for the top section is probably going to be one of the biggest challenges.”

“The other thing is tire choice, because you can have different climates at the bottom and the top. Our practices are super early in the morning, where the race is later in the day and we won’t have any chance to run the whole 12 miles at one time until then.”

Best advice you’ve received: “I’ve talked with a lot of people who are experienced with it – the most important thing is to finish and get the car to the top.”

For the first time in the 103-year history of racing on America’s Mountain, The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, presented by Gran Turismo, will air in its entirety on the RACER Network, and will also be available on the RACER+ streaming app, delivering the most complete and immersive PPIHC viewing experience ever offered to fans.