LOS ANGELES: Ducati has reclaimed the crown as King of the Mountain for this year's annual running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, achieving the deed in under 10 minutes.

It was Calin Dunne who rode the Ducati Multistrada 1260 to claim the crown under 2018 Spider Grips Ducati Pikes Peak team and completed the climb in nine minutes and 59.102 seconds.

This may be Dunne’s fourth victory at Pikes Peak, but was also the first motorcyclist to have traversed the 4,720-foot (1,438.66m) Pikes Peak race course in under 10 minutes in 2012 on a Multistrada 1200 S.

“The Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak proved as amazing as we all hoped. It performed flawlessly, giving me everything I needed to get up the mountain. Pikes Peak is never an easy race, but the weather cooperated and we clinched the victory for Ducati,” said Dunne.

This is Ducati’s seventh victory on the mountain since the company’s debut in 2008.

Ducati and Dunne has held the all-time course record from 2012 until 2017, a year in which Ducati was not part of the official race competition.

The new Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak model has a larger 1,262cc Testastretta DVT engine that has been tuned to deliver 18% more torque in the mid-range and a redesigned chassis for greater stability.

Dunne's new teammate for this year, Codie Vahsholtz, managed to finish in third place with a time of 10 minutes 12.703 seconds.

The Colorado native hails from a family of Pikes Peak champions and has established a series of victories of his own.

This year, for the 96th running of the “Race to the Clouds,” Ducati partnered with Shell Advance, Brembo, Pirelli, Termignoni, Spider Grips, Ducati by Rizoma, Race Tech, Revl and Racing Cowboys.

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