Acura brings monobob world champion Kaysha Love to Pikes Peak in the MDX Type S pace car

From the bobsled track to the mountain

For the 104th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Acura has chosen Kaysha Love to take the wheel of the official pace car. Love is a two-time US Olympian, a Team USA bobsled pilot and the 2025 monobob world champion. She will drive an Acura MDX Type S up the mountain in a red, white and blue livery inspired by the Team USA bobsled team.

Love switched to bobsled in 2020 after earlier careers in gymnastics and track and field. Acura says she is also one of its athlete ambassadors, while the company’s engineers have worked with USA Bobsled/Skeleton to improve sled performance.

Integra Type S goes after the front-wheel-drive record

The performance focus of Acura’s Pikes Peak program is the Integra Type S DE5 race car. It will be driven by Dai Yoshihara, a Pikes Peak class winner and two-time Formula Drift champion. Acura is targeting the front-wheel-drive record of 10:48.094, set in 2018 by Acura engineer Nick Robinson in a 500 hp Acura TLX.

The Integra Type S DE5 is based on the production car, but Honda Racing Corporation USA has reworked it for competition. It uses a tuned 2.0-liter K20C8 turbo engine producing more than 360 hp, with power sent to the front wheels through a six-speed paddle-shift sequential gearbox. To deal with Pikes Peak’s thin mountain air, the car gets a larger intake, revised charge piping, a lighter intercooler and a three-inch Borla exhaust system.

Pikes Peak tests engineers as hard as drivers

For Acura, Pikes Peak is more than a hill climb; it is a technology showcase with very little room for weakness. The course exposes any shortcomings in cooling, aerodynamics, brakes and tires. The race climbs a 12.42-mile route, or almost 20 kilometers, with 156 corners. The start line sits at 9,390 feet, or 2,862 meters, while the finish is at 14,115 feet, or 4,302 meters.

Acura is chasing its own benchmark

For Acura, this year’s Pikes Peak is not primarily a head-to-head fight with an outside rival. It is a chance to push beyond the brand’s own technical ceiling. Acura is entering Pikes Peak for the 16th consecutive year, with 12 class wins, more than 30 podium finishes and several course records already to its name.

The program also works beyond the stopwatch. If Yoshihara lowers the record in the Integra Type S DE5, Acura can tie together a production-based performance model, HRC performance-parts expertise and its Olympic partnership in one story. If the record stays out of reach, the brand still gets a highly visible stage for the MDX Type S and Integra Type S at one of America’s best-known motorsport events. Either way, Pikes Peak remains a brutally honest test of the hardware.