Everyone who reads this site should already know who Jeff Zwart is. In case you don’t, he’s one of the most accomplished racers to ever touch the hill at Pikes Peak, he’s an ace behind the lens of a photo or video camera, and he’s a genuine Porsche enthusiast. Who else do you know that will road trip an early 356 and street-drive their 906 Carrera 6 in LA traffic? He lives in Colorado and first came to the mountain as a photographer for Road and Track magazine. Then he started racing the mountain. Then he started winning.
Zwart has won eight class championships in six different classes over the years. He has set a number of class records. He is one of only a few people to run up Pikes Peak in under 10 minutes. He’s been at the wheel of some properly crazy Porsche concoctions, including the BBI-built turbocharged GT3 Cup seen above. He is always at maximum attack, and continues to be quite the fast driver. I was honored with the privilege of following him up Pikes Peak at speed, he driving his 2002 class-winning 911 GT2, me in a brand new Macan GTS on snow tires. That experience taught me just how experienced he was, as I was pushing flat-out to keep up with him, but he was just cruising with one hand on the steering wheel and one eye on the rear view to coach me through the process. He’s a proper legend, and he deserves every bit of the praise he receives.
Congratulations on being recognized, Jeff.
Jeff Zwart on being inducted:
“I have been fortunate to race and rally all over the world so to be honored by an international event like the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which has really become my main focus of competition and passion over nearly 25 years, is quite an honor. My success with Porsche and this great event has run parallel in so many ways in 5 different classes, both through the dirt era and into the fully paved era. In addition to competing here at Pikes Peak I have had the opportunity to translate my first hand experiences of racing with filmmaking by directing multiple television commercials and films up on the mountain, most recently directing Ken Block’s latest film that was released late last year. All of this adds up to the Hill Climb being a very special place for me.”