Monster Tajima teams up with Rimac for Pikes Peak 2015

Legendary Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima, the man with nine wins at famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, in the next event again will go electric.  His Monster Sport team cooperate with croatian manufacturer Rimac Automobili and they created Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One.

Monster’s decades long experience in racing and Rimac Automobili’s state of the art technology and know-how brought to life a staggering creation, the Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One. It is powered by four independent electric motors, giving the car a total power of over 1,1 MW (1,475 hp). That is more than twice the power Tajima had in his 2014 car when he broke his own Pikes Peak record, stopping the clock at 9:43,90.

There are no gearboxes or differentials on this car. The power of each independent motor is transferred to each wheel by an innovative chain drive system developed specifically for this project, which saves a lot of weight and space. Embracing the Rimac Automobili technology, the Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One features an adapted racing version of the Rimac All Wheel Torque Vectoring system, first implemented in the Rimac Concept_One.

The Rimac AWTV controls the torque of each motor 100 times a second. The system can vary the torque on each wheel depending on the steering angle, speed, longitudinal and lateral forces, yaw-rates and number of other variables. The ECU runs the collected sensor-data through complex mathematical algorithms which calculate the optimum torque distribution on a millisecond-level. This enables the vehicle to take full advantage of the tires, squeezing the maximum out of their potential and giving the driver the desired vehicle dynamics at any given moment.

“We measured 0-100 km/h in 2,2 seconds. 200 km/h comes in 5,4 seconds from a standstill. Cornering forces and stopping numbers are also impressive, but let’s not spoil the surprise. We are quite confident that Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One will break previous year’s record. He is a great driver with tons of experience. Interesting fact – he raced Pikes Peak his first time a year before I was born. 28 years later, we work alongside to push the limits further. With the support of our best engineers and technicians, our technology, powertrain, battery-system and Torque Vectoring, he will be able to push the boundaries of electric race cars to a whole new level. Working with Mr. Tajima and his team is an amazing experience of which we enjoy every second”, reveals Mate Rimac, founder of Rimac Automobili.

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race in Colorado has taken place since 1916. Track is 19,99 km long, with 156 corners, and ends up at 4310 m above sea level. Tajima was first to broke ’10 minute barrier’, back in 2011 with Monster Sport SX4.

After that Tajima switched to electric racing cars. In 2012 he didn’t finished the race because engine problems, but in 2013 set the new record for electtric car (9.46.530). Last year Tajima improved his time to 9.43.90, but Greg Tracy set the new record time 9.08.188, so this year Tajima-san has a big challenge.

The event is starting with practice sessions on Tuesday, June 23rd, culminating on race day, Sunday June 28th.