Images: Tony Brakohiapa

For the last few months, we’ve been following Tony Brakohiapa’s transition from a former Formula DRIFT competitor to a Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) racer. But when it came time for the ultimate challenge- climbing to over 14,000ft in his Formula D Mustang, Brakohiapa faced some serious challenges and ultimately had to make the decision to withdraw from the race last weekend, according to his recent post on Facebook.

As we told you back in April, the original plan was for Brakohiapa to race his former Formula D Mustang, a 1,000+hp beast, up to the summit of Pikes Peak during the 92nd running of the famed Hill Climb. However, during testing at Sonoma Raceway just a couple of weeks ago, the Mustang’s potent engine gave way, throwing a literal wrench into Brakohiapa’s plans.

Luckily, he had a backup car to prep (his original 2005 Formula DRIFT Mustang) so that he could still stay in the race.

Unfortunately, though the 2005 S197 Mustang was a viable option, it needed quite a bit of work to get it back in race-ready condition. Trying to prep it on the fly, Brakohiapa and his team rewired the car, reworked the aerodynamics and even overhauled the entire powertrain over the last few weeks.

But, with the lack of time for prep let alone practice, and with the inherent danger that comes with the PPIHC anyway, let alone with a freshly prepped, barely driven(in the past few years) car, Brakohiapa came to the conclusion that it was probably best to withdraw from this year’s event.

Though we were disappointed to not catch him running the PPIHC when we were up there on Sunday, we back Brakohiapa’s decision 100-percent and can’t wait to see what the next year will bring for the former Formula D guru as he preps for the 2015 PPIHC. That’s right- according to Brakohiapa’s Facebook page, he’s already starting the prep work on his 1,000hp ex-Formula D Mustang for next year’s event!