Electric Volkswagen ID R sets new Goodwood hillclimb record at Festival of Speed for the second time in two days, with Romain Dumas at the wheel

Photo: Motorsport Images

Volkswagen’s all-electric sports car has broken the 20-year-old Goodwood hillclimb record twice at this year’s Festival of Speed, beating the previous time by 1.6 seconds.

The 41.6-second course record was set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren Formula 1 car but was beaten by half a second by Romain Dumas in the 671bhp VW ID R on Friday.

Today, Dumas knocked more than a second off that time, as he crossed the line in 39.90 seconds. His run appeared to be on the limit, the car jittering over bumps and sending clouds of dust into the air from the limits of the track.

The high-speed effort was accompanied by the car’s high-intensity whir, which was heard on the following Sunday too — when a wet track scuppered an attempt to reduce the record even further.

Last month, the Volkswagen claimed the Nürburgring electric car lap record after an earlier version set the fastest time ever recorded on the Pike’s Peak International hillclimb last year – by 15 seconds. It also set Goodwood’s electric car hillclimb record in 2018.

The latest version of the car has an F1-style drag reduction system and improved aerodynamics for more stability and grip while cornering, which aided the record attempt on the twisty 1.16 mile Goodwood route.

Immediate torque from the electric motors also gave the car an advantage. On Friday, it was the fastest of the day’s timed runners at the end of the first sector of the climb (120mph – 12mph faster than the next best car). At the end of the climb it was clocked at 128mph, which was 10mph down on the fastest runner at that point on the track.

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More

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• Pikes Peak: An uphill battle

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The latest milestone for came as electric racing continues to gain momentum – on the same weekend that an electric SUV for the new Extreme E series was unveiled.

The ID R’s record-breaking run may come to be seen as symbolic, marking the moment when two electric motors and a pair of lithium-ion battery packs superseded Heidfeld’s V10-powered McLaren MP4/13.

Heidfeld’s record had stood for two decades, thanks to a ban on timed runs for F1 cars on safety grounds — a restriction that doesn’t apply to the Volkswagen.