Romain Dumas in the Richard Mille’s Racing Team

Romain Dumas is an enthusiast for fine watchmaking and Mille watches, and while racing he will be wearing a titanium RM 011 FM, an exceptional creation designed specifically for motor sports. It was with this watch on his wrist that the French driver, winner of the Le Mans 24-hour race and of countless prestigious races around the world, set off on Sunday 12th August to tackle the legendary hillclimb up Pike’s Peak, Colorado’s highest mountain. Romain Dumas took to the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3-R to compete in the 90th ‘race to the clouds’. The track is nearly 20 km long, and with 156 turns, terrifying ravines and a finish line at 4,300 meters, it gave Romain Dumas the chance to demonstrate the full range of his talent. After setting the fastest time on the first day of the trials, the French driver, who was taking part for the first time in this celebrated and unique event, finished in second place, a mere 17 thousandths of a second behind Rhys Millen. A very close finish and a fine achievement for Romain Dumas.

Like golf, polo or tennis, motor sport demands physical performance and stamina. In its ongoing quest for new testing grounds, Richard Mille invested in this sport to take up continually renewed technical challenges in order to test its watches’ capacity for endurance, performance and – of course – comfort under the stresses of racing, as well as to present solutions never before seen in the sector of extreme haute horlogerie.

Romain Dumas was born on 14 December 1977 and began his career in kart racing at the age of 15, achieving several wins. A few years later, he won the Volant ELF ACO at Le Mans, and became French Formula 3 champion in 1998. In 2007, he won the 24-hours on the Nürburgring and took 3rd place in the 24-hours at Le Mans. He few months later, he won the ALMS championship in the United States, with 21 wins out of 39 races. In 2010, he won the 24-hours at Le Mans behind the wheel of an Audi R15, and in 2011 he was at the top of the podium again at the 24-hours on the Nürburgring. Romain Dumas is also a keen rally driver, and since 2010, he has taken part in various races in the French Championship. In August 2012, Romain Dumas competed for the first time in the renowned American Pike’s Peak hillclimb, finishing second, a mere 17 thousands of a second behind Rhys Millen.