MANITOU SPRINGS, Col. — Mike Ryan won the 82nd annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on the weekend in a Freightliner Century Class S/T Super Truck.

Ryan was competing in the big rig division and was up against Peterbilt and Kenworth vehicles. It was his eighth appearance at the competition, which involves racing to the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak.

This year’s even was stopped short of the summit due to severe weather conditions which forced the race to be stopped for two hours before the big rig class took to the hill.

“I don’t care if we only race a mile,” said Ryan. “We came to play and I’m not going to give up that number one spot.”

Mark Lampert, senior vice-president of sales and marketing with Freightliner, said “Mike takes that Century Class to the limit year after year. It’s a testament to his crew and our product that it keeps performing so well in such extreme conditions.”

The truck features a Mercedes-Benz 501 V6 twin turbo engine producing 1,300 horsepower. It is capable of speeds nearing 100 mph on the hill. The truck is equipped with custom-made tires supplied by Michelin, which feature special rubber compounds and hand-carved treads which provide better traction and handling.