Electric VW smashes Pikes Peak record 25 | 06 | 2018
VOLKSWAGEN HAS SMASHED Sebastien Loeb's Pikes Peak International Hillclimb record. Driving VW’s all-electric I.D. R, Romain Dumas has become the first driver to complete the 12.42-mile, 156-corner course in under eight minutes. (Related: Loeb conquers Pikes Peak)
And despite clocking 7mins 57.148secs, the 40-year-old believes he could have gone faster, and taken even more off Loeb’s previous best, set in a 3.2-litre twin-turbo Peugeot 208, of 8m13.878s.
"I had some fog and it was quite humid with some damp in the second section," Dumas said from the 14,115ft summit of Pikes Peak."I'm happy with this, but we could have gone quicker if that middle sector had been dry.”
VW arrived in America with its 500-kW (680 PS) I.D. R chasing an electric vehicle record of 9m07.222s, but early qualifying times indicated the potential for an outright record.
“It’s an awesome achievement,” Dumas continued. “We exceeded even our own high expectations with that result. Since this week’s tests, we have known that it was possible to break the all-time record. For it to come off, everything had to come together perfectly – from the technology to the driver. And the weather had to play ball too.
“That everything ran so smoothly is an incredible feeling, and the new record on Pikes Peak is the icing on the cake. I still cannot believe that Volkswagen and my name are behind this incredible time.
“The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the most impressive car I have ever driven in competition. The electric drivetrain means many things are different and I learned a lot during the project. The team did an indescribably meticulous, yet at the same time relaxed, job. Not only did we get the desired result, but the team spirit was also spot on. I am incredibly proud to have been a part of it.”
And the record breaking run was also praised by Sven Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport Director.
“This is a fantastic day for Volkswagen and one, of which we are very proud,” Smeets said. “The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the most innovative and complex car ever developed by Volkswagen Motorsport.
“Every employee involved in the Pikes Peak project has constantly had to push their boundaries and show extreme commitment and dedication. Without this, it would not have been possible to repeatedly overcome new challenges and come up with new solutions.
“It should actually be impossible to achieve all that and especially the all-time record in such a short time, but our team pulled it off thanks to their passion and commitment. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the project and showed such fantastic team spirit.”
Related: Plug-in hybrid conquers Heaven's Gate
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Jim McGill