It wasn’t such an uphill battle for Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati as their team took first and third place in the legendary road-racing competition.

Ducati North America took the first and third place finishes in the 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, held on Sunday, June 27 in the mountains above Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In its very first international competition, the Multistrada 1200 S took top honors in the 1200cc class in the hands of Pikes Peak Veteran Greg Tracy. The Multistrada took a massive lead off the starting line, and rode into clouds to take the top podium position at 14,110 feet.

“That was an exciting week I’ve got to say. I want to thank Ducati for the opportunity they’ve given me- I was even pitted in front of Rhys Millen’s Unlimited Class ride- that was pretty cool! The Spider Grips Falkner-Livingston Multistrada was an amazing ride,” Tracy said in the post race award ceremony.

With his motorcycle reaching 137 mph at one point Tracy felt comfortable with the motorcycle on both the dirt and the asphalt found on the course.

Greg’s teammate Alexander Smith also put in a formidable performance, ensuring the second Ducati entry made the podium. Alexander fought his way up the mountain, battling an exciting race for the second spot and finishing third after an accident in the last corner.

“I have to repeat everything Greg said about the bike- it was really perfect. The race was good, and if you see the start line footage you can tell how awesome the bike was working,” said Smith. “It was a pretty uneventful race up until the last corner where I kind of laid it down. I got off real quick and remounted which was still good enough for third and got two Ducati’s on the podium.”