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At the recent Pikes Peak race, Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima managed to take the title for the third consecutive year.

Using a "very heavily modified" Suzuki XL7 , the 58-year-old Suzuki WRC monster managed to clock a time of 10-minutes and 18.250-seconds on the 12.5-mile course. None of the other competitors even broke the 11-minutemark making Tajima truly the King of the Mountain.

Unfortunately, due to slippery conditions on the tarmac and dirt, Tajima failed to complete the course in less than 10 minutes, losing the $25,000 prize offered by organizers. In fact, the conditions were so bad that the race was red-flagged a total of 14 times and several competitors had to be hospitalized.

"The car and tires were perfect, and I couldn't have driven the hill any faster," said Tajima.

"But the conditions were very challenging, especially at the top of the course, so I could never have broken 10 minutes. But I'll be back next year..."

With a course record of just a second off the 10-minute barrier, Tajima might just pull it off next time when the conditions are right.

+Top Gear: Big three for Monster