The GPS Buzz

Colorado Springs, Colorado - June 27, 2010 - Every year, Colorado Springs welcomes the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, nearly the oldest motorsports race in the United States second only to the Indy 500.  However, this year, the race's 88th anniversary, proved to be a little different.  As the event date neared, so did the launch of Apple's newest release--the iPhone 4.  Hoptocopter Films  principle Seth Schaeffer had a vision.  The mission: to combine the winning elements of the Ducati Spider Grips Multistrada team, the prestigious and world-famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, top racer and Hollywood stuntman Greg Tracy, and the newest release of Apple's iPhone 4.

Schaeffer accomplished this mission by being one of the first in the world to test the limits of the latest technology advancement of Apple's iPhone 4 during one of the most extreme races known to man, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.  The early question was a simple one.  How would the Apple iPhone 4 perform?  Could an iPhone handle the extreme conditions of 14,000 foot peaks at 135 miles per hour with 156 turns, 3000 foot drop offs, 60% asphalt, 40% dirt, 40 degrees of temperature shifts, and 12.4 miles from start to summit in less than 12 minutes?  Apple stepped up to help by ensuring that the team would receive eight Apple iPhone 4s the same day Apple released this newest technology to the world--on June 24, 2010, only four days before the race.   

As the idea quickly unfolded, Schaeffer enlisted the help of Greg Tracy as well as to Chris Nazarenus of Triple Nickel Films. Nazarenus is a producer with many years of managing media on the Pikes Peak mountain and the experience to lead the production team.  Tracy is one of the top stuntmen in Hollywood and has worked on films such as GI Joe, The Bourne Ultimatum, Talladega Nights, Death Race, and Spiderman 3.  He has been racing this particular race for the past 14 years and holds 5 (now 6) Pikes Peak International Hill Climb titles as a part of his resume.   His passion for technology and directing has always been at the forefront of his career.   Ironically, Tracy would be racing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the Ducati Spider Grips team, piloting the newly-released 1200cc Ducati Multistrada, one of the greatest motorcycles released in recent history.

Tracy was enthusiastically "in" and on-board to help Schaeffer produce and direct the viral short-form film, "156 Turns," shot solely on the newly-released Apple iPhone 4. Tracy felt that the combination of the "latest and greatest" technology in the video and motorcycle arena was a perfect partnership of innovation.  "Directing and filming at an event like Pikes Peak takes extreme athleticism and an understanding of how you need to capture the risk and emotion of what drives us to risk life and limb to race up a 14,000 foot peak for the mere satisfaction of saying we got to the top," said Tracy.  "To win is part of my emotional makeup, and to have the first corporately produced Apple iPhone 4 viral video out there is part of who I am.  The opportunity to pull together our Ducati Spider Grips Multistrada team with Seth Schaeffer and Chris Nazarenus created the winning combination to capture what we know as part of our experience."

"Needless to say not knowing what quality of video the iPhone 4 would produce was a daunting dilemma," said Schaeffer.  "I had faith in Apple's track record, our team, and Greg Tracy to win - to make sure we all ended up on top."  Not only did the historic event prove to be a test for the technology of the iPhone 4 and the Ducati Multistrada, it became a test for all due to the extreme nature of the race.  In addition to Apple's help in making sure the team had the new iPhone 4s, Owle Bubo mount, and GPSCity.com  (RAM Mounts) helped to provide the team with additional mounting devices for filming in such extreme conditions. "Owle and GPSCity.com (Ram Mounts) rocked, and I personally endorse their products," said Schaeffer.  The Ducati Spider Grips team combined risk, reward, technology, passion, and one of the top racers, Greg Tracy, to reach a single goal--to get to the top of Pikes Peak first and to survive to tell about it.   Greg Tracy did just that; on June 27, 2010, Tracy won the 1200cc motorcycle class at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.  

Greg Tracy accomplished his dream, and he, Seth Schaeffer, and Chris Nazarenus captured it for the world to experience by merely using a phone.