Leading up to The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Dani Sordo had little experience with the race.

In fact, Sordo had just one practice run with his race car to learn the road and acclimate himself to the course.

The rookie managed well.

In Sordo’s first Hill Climb, he placed first in the exhibition class and third overall and clocked in at 9 minutes, 30.852 seconds.

“The roads felt nice and I’m very happy with my run,” Sordo said. “The car was working well and I wasn’t pushing too hard.”

Sordo hoped to take more risks during his run, but he said he didn’t feel comfortable testing the roads with just one practice run in his competition vehicle.

While Sordo didn’t have multiple runs in his competition vehicle, he still managed to scope the course.

Most of Sordo’s practice came in a Hyundai sedan rather than his 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N TA Spec.

“It’s difficult because of the size and the weight of the car,” Sordo said. “It’s difficult to calculate the speed of a normal car versus a competition car. In a normal car, you have to go up really slow and you’re seeing the road in a different way compared to a racecar, which is lower to the ground.”

But Sordo’s lack of training in his vehicle didn’t matter.

The rookie Hill Climb racer held first place for most of the morning and, of those who completed the race, Sordo had the third fastest opening, second and third sections out of the four segments of the race.

Sordo clocked in at 1:41.238 in section one; 2:16.761 in the second section; and 2:44.892 in section three.

Only Romain Dumas, who won the Hill Climb with a time of 8:53.553, and Christian Merli, who placed second overall at 9:04.454, tallied better section times in the first three areas of the race.

“With what I was able to do in practice in the little time I had, I’m good with what I accomplished,” Sordo said. “Some places I didn’t want to take a lot of risks, so I’m OK with the run I had.”

Sordo’s top speed of 75.676 also placed him third, behind Dumas and Merli, who also had the top two speeds of the day.

“My time and pace were good enough to get me in third place,” Sordo said. “I think [Dumas and Merli] are strong competitors and really fast. I’m not mad about where I placed.”