Watch: Volkswagen Pulverizes Goodwood Hill Climb Record With Electric ID.R Prototype

Volkswagen and Romain Dumas just stole the Goodwood Hill Climb record from a freaking Formula 1 car.

byJames Gilboy|
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Is this headline getting old yet? Volkswagen's electric ID.R prototype has officially thrashed another course record, its victim this time being Nick Heidfeld's 1999 record at Goodwood in a McLaren Formula 1 car.

Heidfeld's time up the Goodwood Hill Climb, set in a 1999 McLaren MP4-13, sat uncontested at 41.6 seconds for two straight decades until Romain Dumas came along, driving the upgraded Nürburgring-spec Volkswagen ID.R. Dumas handily flattened Heidfeld's time, stomping the record with a 41.1-second run on Friday, and then grinding it into the dirt by dashing to the top of the hill in 39.90 seconds on Saturday.

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Dumas may have already cracked the course record twice this weekend, but he'll have a third opportunity come Sunday, when the Timed Shootout begins. Even in the unlikely scenario that he biffs hard and crashes the ID.R, Dumas and Volkswagen will leave Goodwood as the electric record-holders at three of the world's most esteemed racing venues: Goodwood, Pikes Peak, and the Nürburgring.

At both of the former, Volkswagen set overall records, relegating the times it beat to the status of internal combustion record. Porsche's indomitable 919 Evo stands between the ID.R and the Nürburgring's overall record, which probably won't fall to an electric car any time soon.

Despite its success, Volkswagen won't yet retire the ID.R to a museum; it plans to send the ID.R to China later this year, where it'll take on the 4.3-mile, 99-corner Tianmen Shan Big Gate Road. As of now, the Range Rover Sport SVR holds the course record with a 9:51, though with the ID.R's countless performance advantages, Land Rover can only await its record's execution at the hands of the merciless Volkswagen ID.R.

Volkswagen ID.R

, James Gilboy
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