After a long teasing campaign and intense preparations, Volkswagen managed to score an impressive time on the Pikes Peak hill climb. The electric supercar I.D. R managed to become history.
In doing so, he not only broke the previous record for electric vehicles, but also bettered Sébastien Loeb’s (F) all-time record from 2013 – by a full 16 seconds. Dumas’ new record of 7m 57.148s minutes is now top of the list of Pikes Peak champions, which includes such acclaimed drivers as Loeb, Walter Röhrl (D), Michèle Mouton (F), Stig Blomqvist (S), Nobuhiro Tajima (J) and also Rod Millen and his son Rhys (both NZ).
Romain Dumas claimed his fourth overall victory at the iconic Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which has now been held 96 times since 1916. With the I.D. R Pikes Peak, Volkswagen has created an extraordinary racing car, specifically tailored to the demands of the most famous of hill climbs.
A mere 250 days passed between the announcement and the start of the Pikes Peak project on 18 October 2017 and the record-breaking run on Pikes Peak on 24 June 2018. This was an extremely sporty remit for the development of a thoroughbred prototype, including innovative fully-electric drive technology, specific demands on the batteries, aerodynamics and chassis.
This effort and the work of the Volkswagen mechanics, engineers and many more employees in Wolfsburg, at the motorsport headquarters in Hannover and, last but not least, during the weeks of preparation in Colorado Springs, has now been rewarded with a new record on Pikes Peak.
Another key factor was tyre maker Michelin’s years of experience on Pikes Peak, which allowed them to provide tyre technology perfectly tailored to the demands of the hill climb. The I.D. R Pikes Peak’s E-engines, which together generated 500 kW (680 PS), were achieved in collaboration with partner Integral e-drive. OMP put the icing on the cake – for example, with the featherweight racing overall for Romain Dumas, which perfectly complemented the lightweight design philosophy of the I.D. R Pikes Peak.
