STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
A young woman was crowned the fastest driver of the 2023 Sun Valley Tour de Force.
Alexandra Hainer clocked 218.87 miles per hour in a 2020 McLaren 720S Spider as she pushed the pedal to the metal along a four-mile stretch of Highway 75 near Cathedral Pines north of Ketchum.
This year’s Tour de Force featured a new speed trap system designed by Microsoft that equipped each vehicle with a GPS device that tracked top speeds no matter where it happened on the course. The old system tracked speed in one location only, near the finish line.
Alexandra’s father, Anders Hainer posted 217 miles per hour and 216.54 miles per hour in the same 2020 McLaren 720S Spider, while Julie Hainer clocked 211.94 miles per hour.
The record for the No Speed Limit event is 253.1 miles per hour posted by a Bugatti.
Meanwhile, a familiar face around Sun Valley--Dave Stone, who owns the Sun Valley Auto Club and is a big supporter of the Tour de Force—clocked 111.7 miles per hour in his 1981 VW Caddy pickup.
Proceeds and donations from this year’s Tour de Force will go to the Hunger Coalition to combat food insecurity in a county where food receipts are sixth highest in the country and 52 percent of residents are food insecure.
Last year the event raised $650,000 for The Hunger Coalition.