All motorcycles have been banned from competing at the famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in 2020 following the fatal accident that claimed the life of Ducati factory rider Carlin Dunne.

Dunne was riding a prototype Ducati V4 Streetfighter when he crashed and died just a short distance from the finish line for what remains unexplained reasons.
The decision to remove motorcycles from the racing has happened before and was officially confirmed by the organisers recently ‘while analysis for long-term viability is conducted.’

Pikes Peak races 156 corners up a mountain in Colorado and is one of the America’s oldest motorsport events, but the organisers have removed motorcycles from the racing before as a result of accidents and have changed rules in order to slow down motorcycles and try to reduce the chance of incidents.

A statement from the organisers said: “The Board of Directors of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb recently convened to review the 2019 event.

“It was decided that in order to determine the long-term viability of the motorcycle programme there will be no motorcycle programme offered in 2020 so that race organizers can gather data and analytics to review more thoroughly the impact on the overall event in the absence of this programme.”

Tom Osborne, Chairman of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, said: “Motorcycles have been a part of the PPIHC for the past 29 years, and their history on America’s Mountain dates back to the inaugural running in 1916.

“That said, the motorcycle programme hasn’t been an annual event. They have run 41 of the 97 years we’ve been racing on Pikes Peak. It’s just time to take a hard look at every aspect of the race, including the motorcycle program, and determine whether or not the event may change.”

The organisers have made it clear the analysis for the future will continue to work out the viability of adding motorcycles back to the racing program from 2021.