Volkswagen beats Goodwood’s all-time Hill record. Then does it again

Under the trees before the flint wall (Photo by Marc Waller)

Under the trees before the flint wall (Photo by Marc Waller)The Electric powered Volkswagen ID.R has broken the outright Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb record, 20 years after it was set by ex-F1 star Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren MP4/13. Twice, as the new record was then broken once more the next day.

On Friday, Dumas and the ID.R stopped the clock in a time of 41.18 seconds the state-of-the-art ID.R averaged 101.4mph along the challenging 1.16-mile course.

The next day, Dumas and his car then smashed their own record in qualifying for the shoot out with a 39.90

Driven by two-time Le Mans 24 Hours-winner Romain Dumas, the Hillclimb record is the third record for the incredible machine. Earlier this year the ID.R established a new electric vehicle lap record around the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, with a time of 06:05.33 minutes in June, adding to its outright record on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA, (07.57.15 minutes) which was set in June 2018.

The outgoing Goodwood hill record was set in 1999. The then year old McLaren MP4/13 set the fastest time on the 1.16-mile Goodwood Hillclimb, driven by then F1 test driver, Nick Heidfeld in a time of 00:41:60. Although some drivers have come close in the past, it has taken twenty years for the record to be broken, with the ID.R smashing its own winning 2018 time of 00:43:86 to break the outright record this year. 

With a further year of development behind it after it’s Goodwood debut in 2018, the all-electric ID.R produces 500kW (670bhp) and 650Nm of torque, and weighs less than 1,100kg with the driver on board. The remarkable Volkswagen can accelerate from 0-62mph in 2.25 seconds, topping out at 168mph.

Speaking on Friday before the ID.R smashed it’s own new record on Saturday the Motorsport Director Sven Smeets from Volkswagen said: “The Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb is one of the most iconic Hillclimbs in the world. The track is so narrow and difficult to master, with zero room for error. Dumas and the whole Volkswagen team performed flawlessly to set the record.

“A change is taking place in the field of production vehicles and in motorsport. Electric cars are becoming increasingly more powerful and it’s great to see them now rivalling combustion engines on track. To get an idea of how far we’ve developed the car, in 2018 we ran a 00:43.86 – this year we were almost three seconds faster.”

The VW gets an unofficial motorbike escort back down the hill (Photo by Marc Waller) Fast past the house (Photo by Marc Waller)

 

 

 

Of course, the car then went more than three seconds faster than the record!

Initially there was some doubt on whether the record would stand as official with the time not being set in the shoot out but it was later confirmed that the VW ID.R and Roman Dumas was the new record holder and had another achievement to add to their list.

Will it be another twenty years before the record is beaten again or will VW return in 2020 to beat it again. Or will another manufacturer come forward with a car to go faster still? By Marc Waller

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