The car classes of Pikes Peak

Literally anything goes. All cars have to do is pass a basic safety inspection. Only two Unlimiteds made the summit this year - David Donner's 2011 PVA-03 (10:04) and Cody Loveland's insanely bewinged Acura NSX (11:39).

Pikes Peak's opened its doors to EVs on and off since 1981. Ex-record holder, Monster Tajima, hoped to best the course record in his E-Runner, but it was forced to retire after technical problems. Thanks to the new all-tarmac route, five of the top finishers beat the previous electric car record.

It's the second oldest and arguably most closely fought division. They look like NASCARS and sound like the devil's own diarrhoea.

These are traditional racers that have had their own class since the race's inception in 1916. The mildly psychotic-looking pumped-up dune buggies were plagued by poor weather at the race's summit this year.

They look like normal(ish) cars, but they're generally space framed mentalists with heavily modified, urm, everything.

This year's seen a very high density of wondrousness in this class, largely thanks to Romain Dumas' P911 GT3-R, which lost out to a new world record by two hundredths of a second. This was Dumas' first time at the event, and probably the first time he lost a race to a Hyundai.

It's designed to show off "advancements in the practical application of motor sports technology". Which roughly translates as "features weird cool stuff". All four entrants made it to the top this year; the fastest of which was Rick Knoop's Lister special, summiting the hill in 10:56.240.

This class doffs its collective cap to Pikes Peak racing history. They may look far too old and far too leaf-sprung to put in good times, but this year's winner, Jess Neal, drove his Plymouth ‘Cuda up in 12:03.858.

It's open to old bikes with 650cc to 750cc twin-cylinder engines. This year's winner was Marc LaNove, who made it up in 12:39.78 on his 1969 Triumph Bonneville. Whatever that is.

There are four classes for the romper suited set - 250cc, 450cc, 750cc and 1205cc. This year saw the first ever sub-ten-minute climb, courtesy of both Carlin Dunne and Greg Travey who posted a 9:52.819 and 9:58.262 respectively on their Ducatis.

Weird quad things! Rubbing shoulders with racing trucks! And Porsches! Told you Pikes Peak was varied. The fastest man was Douglas Siddens on his Polaris, who made it up in a blistering 10:40.669.

More quads! These ones are only limited by tread width and engine size (700cc or less). To remain stable through the corners, the riders have to dangle out over the side of their vehicles, which makes it one of the most dramatic divisions to watch, especially considering the top time of 11:40.521 set on race day.

There are three wheels, two riders and some enormous testes in this class. This year's winner was JT Wood and Chris Rizzo, who finished in 11:41.406.