Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak sets a new record at the Goodwood FoS
This year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrated its 25th anniversary. To make it even more memorable, Volkswagen had brought its I.D. R Pikes Peak to the iconic Goodwood hill climb after making history at the Pikes Peak hill climb three weeks ago. Romain Dumas was once again at the helm of the first fully electric race car from Volkswagen to set a new record. This time, the I.D. R Pikes Peak completed the iconic 1.86km run in 43.86 seconds, thus creating a new record for electric cars at Goodwood. The 2013 record for electric cars was bettered by 3.48 seconds by the I.D. R Pikes Peak at the 2018 edition of Goodwood FoS. However, the all-time record of 41.6 seconds set way back in 1999 still remains to be beaten, which was set by former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 Formula 1 car. Nick Heidfeld currently races for Mahindra Racing in the Formula E series.
Herbert Diess, the chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen passenger cars said, “The I.D. R Pikes Peak has once again proven emphatically that it is a fantastic ambassador for our fully-electric I.D. family. I would like to thank the whole team. After the great success on Pikes Peak, at Goodwood we have shown once again how impressive the performance of an electric racing car can be. That is a very good preparation for our great electric car offensive which is starting next year.”
After breaking the record, an ecstatic Romain Dumas said, “Goodwood is an absolutely fantastic event and I am more than happy that we won in front of such a great crowd of motorsport enthusiasts. The hill climb track is short but often dirty and therefore you should definitely not underestimate it. In any case it is a great honour to drive here at Goodwood. You meet so many fantastic drivers, and the cars and motorcycles here span a century of motorsport. It is one of a kind.”
Sven Smeets, the director of Volkswagen Motorsport said, “Although the route is not even two kilometres long, we once again showed what the I.D. R Pikes Peak is capable of. Volkswagen is committed to electromobility and we want to take every opportunity to show how emotional this topic can be, before Volkswagen launches its first fully-electric range as of 2020.”
