Michèle Mouton's induction to the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb Hall of Fame came 40 years on from her incredible win in Colorado
Photography by Girardo & Co. Archive & Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
Words by Josie Rimmer
It’s 1985 and Michèle Mouton is sitting just before the start line of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb… at a standstill. Unlike her competitors who got to enjoy a flying start, Michele had taken a few penalties during practice and was ultimately given the punishment of forgoing her own flying start.
It didn’t matter. She sat with a furrowed brow and thought: “Now… I have to win.”
How do I know this?
Because now it’s 2025, and I’m sitting in front of the absolute legend that is Michèle as she’s inducted to the Pikes Peak Hall of Fame. She’s telling her story. This time, the story’s different. After a career telling the world how unimportant it was that she was a woman, this time, she felt the intense importance of winning Pike’s Peak as a woman. That there was a difference here.
World motorsport's most celebrated woman was inducted to the Pikes Peak Hall of Fame 40 years on from her stunning Colorado success
Michèle is humble. She accepts her Hall of Fame medal and her plaque with a handshake from Jeff Swartz as she steps up to the microphone. She thanks everyone for being here to celebrate this occasion, but specifically calls out her daughter and two granddaughters who are in the audience as well. It’s touching to see the hero before me light up when she sees her family in the room.
The first time I met Michèle, I picked her up from the Seattle airport when she landed into town for our 2023 DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit. I might have been shaking. I walked the line between overwhelming excitement in meeting my hero and the small voice of fear that she wouldn’t be like the Michèle Mouton I had made up in my head after years of watching her. Of being inspired by her.
I shouldn’t have worried. Because before I could let the anxiousness settle in, she handed me a bag of beautiful macaroons she’d hand-carried from Luxembourg. She smiled, gave me a hug, a kiss on each cheek, and, once we got in the car, told me that she “couldn’t imagine why so many people were interested in hearing her speak.”
My jaw dropped. She had no idea – truly, no idea – what sort of impact she’d had on countless little girls. On countless young women. On countless adult men.
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At the end of that WiM Summit in 2023, we raised a glass of champagne and promised to do it again next year. We did. And we raised a glass of champagne in 2024, too.
Now, Michèle steps back as she poses for the cameras by a standing sign to her right, the sign that deems her a Hall of Fame Inductee. The sign that hosts a photo of her winning Group B years. The sign that identifies her as exactly what she was (and is): The King of the Mountain.
I’m still pinching myself. As the light descends outside of the Penrose Estate and Michèle concludes her speech, the energy shifts. A realization dawns on those in the room; the crews, the techs, the drivers. Yes, they would be competing on the same mountain that she had. They too would be pushing through the middle section the same way she just described. That they’d be driving. And they wanted to drive like Michèle.
We all do. Even if we aren’t behind the wheel.
So Michèle, cheers. Here’s to you now, to you on the start line then, to this Hall of Fame, and to your shaking of the mountain. You are the hero I imagined. And I count myself the luckiest woman on the planet to raise a glass of champagne to you. The King of the Mountain.
The celebration herself.
Words:Josie Rimmer
Tags: Audi, Josie Rimmer, Michèle Mouton, Pikes Peak, Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
Publish Date June 25, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/z78jCWs3-Mouton-Pikes-Peak-780x520.jpeg June 25, 2025
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