by Michael Satterfield - Photos by Larry Chen Photo & Cruise Curtis 07/03/2023
Out of a small shop just south of Houston, the team from Apex has been diligently working on a purpose-built vehicle dubbed the Apexocet for the last several years. Shop and car owner Richard Tomlin's vision started life as a Mazda Miata-based Exocet race car, but today, it has become something far wilder. For nearly a decade, Richard and his small team of racers have been tweaking and tuning the ultra-lightweight sports car for one purpose, to compete in some of the biggest hill climbs in the world. From Mexico's Sierra de San Pedro Mártir to Pikes Peak in Colorado, the Apexocet has laid down some incredible times. Still, for the 101st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, it would need to perform at another level.
The latest version of the Apexocet is packing a 600-hp LS-based small block fueled by Shell V-Power Nitro+ mated to a two-speed Jerico transmission, a radical departure from the original Mazda-based kit. But Richard still runs a sticker on it that says #JustAMiata. In addition to modifying the chassis to accept the more powerful drivetrain, everything from the suspension to aerodynamics was modified by Apex to maximize performance. Weight savings was a significant focus, this year the car was rewired specifically to reduce the amount of wiring the car used, rewiring alone resulted in a weight reduction of 17 lbs alone. Lighter accessory brackets, modifying the cooling system, and shaving ounces off of panels, got the race day weight of the Apexocet with fuel and driver down to just 1,930 lbs.
This year the car would also test new aero, but being in Texas means there aren't any high mountain to road tests at altitude, so the team would do their best at MSR Houston, near sea level, and scorchingly hot, it is the complete opposite of Pikes Peak, but fine-tuning would be done during the test days. Behind the wheel this year would be Romanian racing champion Andrei Mitrasca who has attempted Pikes Peak twice before in his SEAT Ibiza, in 2015 he made news for driving the SEAT from New York to Pikes Peak and then racing it up the mountain. The Apexocet is a far different beast than the diesel front-wheel drive vehicle that Andrei has piloted before, so it would be an interesting race for sure.
Richard and his team would trailer the race car the 16-hour drive to Colorado where they would meet Andrei and start testing and tuning. The car was fast, but in 2023, there were a lot of fast cars and everyone was expecting records to be shattered. The last time the Apexocet was at Pikes Peak was in 2016, piloted by Sead Causevic, who put down a respectable time of 10:53 coming in 26th overall. But Richard was hoping to see a big improvement and Andrie was looking forward to his first time in the open-wheel beast.
The first stop was Mod Finishes, where the main sponsor XPEL would be applying some paint protection to the carbon fiber wings and bodywork. The team also had to add the large XPEL logos to the wings once they were wrapped. Now festooned with its official livery, number 47 would be put through its paces. Richard would be pulling double duty as a team owner and race official, as he services as one of the lead tech inspectors for Pikes Peak.
Years of work and weeks of anticipation all would be decided in around 10 minutes of driving, as Andrei set off from the start line he was smooth and confident, as he pushed further and further up the mountain you could see he was pushing harder and harder. The car would have a little slide as he took a hairpin, he was getting more comfortable at speed, but watching the onboard footage is really where you see how wild a ride it really was. At 10 minutes and 26 seconds, Andrie crossed the line, 27 seconds faster than the last time the car had run Pikes Peak.
That time would earn the Apexocet a 4th place in the open-wheel category and an impressive 20th overall. A feat made more impressive by the fact that the seven new records would be set at Pikes Peak in 2023. The fastest car, a 2018 Wolf TSC-FS, driven by Robin Shute, set a blistering time of just 8 minutes and 40 seconds. The next fastest would be the electric factory-backed Ford SuperVan 4, just s 7 seconds behind the leader.
While a podium would have been nice, Richard was pleased with the progress the car made and how well it did considering it was the fastest field in over 100 years of Pikes Peak. According to Richard, the car will be available again next year for a qualified driver to rent, so it likely won't be the last time the Apexocet takes on the mountain.
For more visit Apex Auto Works.
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