Welcome to one of the best pieces of motorsport footage ever filmed. Jean Louis Mourey’s five minute masterpiece captures the sights and sounds of Ari Vatanen at the 1988 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Vatanen literally manhandles his purpose built 447kW (599bhp) all wheel drive Peugeot 405 T16 to the summit on his way to victory in a then record time of 10:47.77. The current outright record, set at the 2007 event, is 10:01.41, set by Japan’s Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima driving a Suzuki XL7.
Climb Dance, funded and released by Peugeot, won several awards, including:
- Grand Prix Du Film in Festival De Chamonix, 1990
- Silver Screen at US Industrial Film & Video Festival Chicago, 1990
- Prix Special Du Jury at the Festival International Du Film D’Aventure Val D´Isere, 1990
- Golden Award at the International Film Festival Houston, 1990
The Pikes Peak Hill Climb course is 19.99km long, includes 156 corners and the finish line is 1400 metres higher than than the start. Keep in mind that the start point is already at 2800 metres. As Jeremy Clarkson would say, this clip is ‘epic’, and that term applies in every sense of the word. Watch and enjoy as Vatanen races to the clouds.
8 replies on “Climb Dance featuring Ari Vatanen”
[…] in 1990 Jean Louis Mourey gave the motoring and cinema world Climb Dance. A five minute epic, if there can be such a thing, capturing Ari Vatanen’s mad scramble up […]
[…] an outcome would mean that classic films like Climb dance could be all we have to show our grand children to explain what fun driving used to […]
[…] angle from inside the cockpit. And while it might be missing the frantic beauty of the legendary Climb Dance, or even the cinematic heights of last year’s Peak Performance, it is still a damn […]
[…] Pikes Peak may have lost a bit of its charm since Ari Vatanen’s Climb Dance days, with more tarmac paving the way. But ‘Monster’ should be given a pat on the back for […]
I just cannot but love watching climb dance at random times throughout the year…. magic!!!
[…] Louis Mourey’s Climb Dance is one of motorsport’s most enduring short films. It features rally legend Ari Vatanen at the […]
[…] the hills of France for a filming day in the 208 T16. Also on hand was the legendary 405 T16 which rocketed to Pikes Peak victory and global stardom thanks to Ari Vatanen back in […]
[…] all the same, and the glowing exhaust is pretty cool. Afterwards, though, do yourself a favour and watch Climb Dance once […]