Welcome to Part 2 of Privateer vs. Pikes Peak. If you missed Part 1, you can read that story here.
So there it was – a brand-new G87 BMW M2 fresh off the showroom floor, sitting in Tyler Pappas’s shop, Tyspeed. I think it’s easy to assume how most people would treat a purchase of this magnitude. This, however, was not one of those times.
Tyspeed has been building BMW race cars for years; from time-attacking monsters to NASA club racers. This was to be business as usual, but it would be their first time fitting an FIA-certified cage to the G87 platform. The goal: Create a car capable of beating the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb production car record, which Rhys Millen set in 2023 driving an F92 BMW M8. Then take that record at the 2025 event.
If you’ve seen footage of Rhys’s record-setting run, you’d understand that this was no small task, especially for an independent shop with minimal sponsorship investment. Tyler would be coming out of pocket for a large portion of this assignment, but I got the sense that this challenge meant a hell of a lot more than some money out the door.
Tyler’s previous entry at Pikes Peak in 2023 was bittersweet. Originally, he had been called to drive Scott Birdsall’s 1,000hp diesel-powered Ford F1000, better known as “Old Smokey F1.” Scott himself was scheduled to drive his turbo-diesel-converted ex-Le Mans LMP1 race car. But when that car suffered a catastrophic engine failure less than two weeks before the event, he shifted back into the F100 (which, ultimately, didn’t end well), and Tyler was left without a drive.
He still had an entry though, and wasn’t going to let that go to waste. The answer? Pull out all the stops to prepare his E92 BMW M3 track car for hill climb action. While his ability to finish the race was a feat in itself, the E92 was simply uncompetitive in its class. It’s fair to say that participation isn’t enough to keep Tyler motivated – he wants to compete.
2025 would be Tyler’s third year at Pikes Peak, and he finally had the lead time, resources, and race experience needed to have a shot at achieving something much bigger than himself.
With the teardown complete, it was time for a break to weigh the car. The result: 3,377lbs, 408lbs down from the car’s stock configuration. It was then shipped to Accurate Fabrication for the roll cage fabrication and installation.
Tyler called me in early March 2025 with news that the car was back from paint. It was time to start installing “the goods,” so I hit the road.
The production class of Pikes Peak has an intrinsically strict ruleset. The cars must remain ‘stock,’ so modifications are limited to safety enhancements. Think fuel cells, cages, etc. Parts from the manufacturer’s catalog are permitted, along with exhaust and airflow, and software modifications, but that’s about it. This allows manufacturers to showcase their products’ capabilities in the harshest of settings.
Despite the stock-ish nature of the class, laying out all the parts revealed a surprising amount of work. The fire suppression system, fuel cell, Akrapovič exhaust, and everything else all had to be fitted and recorded in a single day. Tyler’s pace did not disappoint and served as a mini test for future endeavors.
Keep in mind that while all this was going on, Tyler still had a full-time business to run, with four or five employees servicing and building various BMWs. Tyler was heavily involved in the day-to-day operation of the shop, so time to actually work on this car was limited. Despite being ahead of schedule, he continued to operate at a rapid pace, knowing that any minor delay could derail the entire schedule.
With most of the parts on, we called it a weekend. I packed up my gear and started my five-hour journey back home, leaving Tyler to continue the build in his spare time to prepare for its first test.
About a month later, I was back on the road heading south. Tyler had booked a session at Englishtown Raceway for the M2’s first shakedown, along with filming its reveal.
I couldn’t help but smile when I laid eyes on the Andy Blackmoore-designed exterior for the first time. “This is the culmination of ten years of work,” Tyler said. It was clear that this car represented much more than just this year’s effort for him; it was a chance to show the world what he was capable of.
It was a little chilly, a little windy, and the pavement a little bumpy. All things considered, it turned out to be a decent testing scenario. Keep in mind this was still very much a stock car despite the S58 engine now making around 700hp. The suspension remained stock save for M Performance springs, and the tires were swapped for Hoosiers. Every other modification was safety-related for Pikes Peak.
The day went on without a hitch, and it was clear that Tyler and his team had built a proper machine. We came out of that weekend with a ton of momentum. Morale was high, the videos looked awesome, and the car performed flawlessly during voluntary testing at Pikes Peak a week before the 2025 event.
Despite Tyler and his team checking every foreseeable box, none of us were prepared for what would go down during Race Week. Stay tuned for Privateer vs. Pikes Peak: Part 3.
