Once again, Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.R creates history by setting a new lap record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The ID.R now becomes the first electric race car to hold the all-time record at the ‘Festival of Speed’. Romain Dumas broke the long-standing Formula 1 record by 1.7 seconds, as he completed the 1.86-kilometre track in the south of England in just 39.90 seconds. In doing so, the 680 PS electric race car managed to break the previous record at the famous hill climb, which was set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld using a more powerful 780 PS combustion/petrol-powered engine developed by McLaren-Mercedes.
Volkswagen Motorsport had specially modified and tuned the ID.R to produce maximum power and control for its race at Goodwood. The latest ID.R electric race car was slightly lighter than its predecessor which was used to set the records on Pikes Peak and also at the Nürburgring, which means the car tipped the scales just under the 1000 kg mark. The ID.R also completed this record-breaking run without using the Drag Reduction System (DRS) that was designed for the high-speed sections at the Nürburgring, as the characteristic of the track in Goodwood made this option pointless. The ID.R received huge support from its technology partner, Bridgestone, which also played an important role in the record-breaking run at Goodwood, back in 1999, and they also supplied special tyres for this 1.86 kilometre-long sprint.
Over the course of the weekend, around 1,80,000 visitors gathered at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’ event. This event also acted as a platform for Volkswagen to show a glimpse of the future of electromobility. The brand also gave the public a rough idea of their electric forerunner, the ID.31, which will be launched in 2020 and will be the first model of the new ID. family to hit the market. Not only that, but Volkswagen also provided an insight into many more future variants of the fully-electric series, in the form of the ID.BUZZ and ID.VIZZION series.
Also Read: Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak Is The Fastest Electric Car At Goodwood; Misses All-Time Record Though
“In setting the new all-time record at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’, the ID.R has once again shown that Volkswagen’s electric powertrain can outperform even the most powerful conventional powertrains,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. “Romain Dumas exploited the full potential of the ID.R on this short but tricky track. After the victory on Pikes Peak and the e-record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, he has now achieved another milestone for electromobility. It was a strong performance from our whole team, which only had a very short time, in which to get a lightweight variant of the ID.R up and running for the ‘Festival of Speed’.”
“We used a smaller battery than at the Nürburgring and optimised the power output. As such, the brand-new sprint version of the ID.R weighs less than 1,000 kilograms, with the driver on board,” said François-Xavier Demaison, Technical Director at Volkswagen Motorsport.
“I am very proud to have set the all-time record in Goodwood with the ID.R. The short Hillclimb is a very special challenge. Because the track is so short, I could not afford to make even the slightest mistake, and every aspect of the fine-tuning of the ID.R had to be perfect. That was particularly challenging, as we were not able to test on the route beforehand,” said Romain Dumas, who had previously taken overall victory with the electric record at the same venue in 2018.
“We are proud to have been part of this project and the new record in Goodwood. To ensure the Volkswagen ID.R had the best tyres for this track, we developed a particularly soft variant of the Bridgestone Potenza slick,” said Mark Tejedor, Vice President OE Bridgestone EMEA. “We are obviously delighted that Bridgestone is still the tyre on the record-breaking car, even after more than 20 years.”