Fully Charged was invited and hired by Volkswagen to document the record attempt of the Volkswagen I.D. R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which on July 6 resulted in the all-time record of 39.9 seconds. Here we can see the footage and a lot of insights from the event.
We are in a great position to observe the history of electrification as it happens right now. Decades-old records are falling, while all the vehicles meet at Goodwood for a joint celebration.
Besides the sprint version of the I.D. R, Fully Charged's Jonny Smith visited also some of other models - including the Volkswagen ID.3 and Honda e.
"Join Jonny Smith and watch the full onboard footage as he shadows the VW Motorsport team at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the electric ID.R race car hopes to become the fastest four-wheeler to ever compete at the Hillclimb.
Fully Charged interviews the team battery engineers for the low-down on high voltage spec, and other adjustments made in order to beat the 20-year record held by a Formula One car on the 1.16 mile Goodwood House Hillclimb.
Whilst at Goodwood Jonny also visited the Honda E EV, the VW ID3, VW ID Buzz, VW ID Vizzion and enjoyed the contrast between turbocharged piston engines, V6s, V8s, V10s, V12s, Moto GP bikes, NASCARs and all manner of other unsilenced engines against the whoosh/whistle/hiss of EVs."
Volkswagen I.D. R news
Volkswagen I.D. R records with Romain Dumas behind the wheel:
- Nürburgring Nordschleife EV record (June 3, 2019): 6:05.336 minutes at an average speed of 206.96 km/h (128.62 mph) over 20.8 km (12.9 miles)
- Goodwood Festival of Speed absolute track record (July 6, 2019): 39.9 seconds (improved previous personal EV record of 43.86 seconds from July, 2018 and 41.18 seconds absolute track record from July 5, 2019)
- absolute track record (June 24, 2018): 7:57.148 minutes
Gallery: Volkswagen I.D. R at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed
FASTER THAN FORMULA 1: NEW RECORD FOR THE VOLKSWAGEN ID.R IN GOODWOOD
08/07/19
- Volkswagen ID.R once again makes motorsport history with a new record in Goodwood
- First electric race car to hold the all-time record at the ‘Festival of Speed’
- Romain Dumas breaks long-standing Formula 1 record by 1,7 seconds
Wolfsburg. The first electric race car to beat Formula 1: The Volkswagen ID.R has made motorsport history again by setting a new all-time record at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’. Romain Dumas completed the 1.86-kilometre track in the south of England in just 39.90 seconds. In doing so, the 500-kW (680-PS) electric race car broke the previous record, which had stood for 20 years, by 1.7 seconds. He also took victory in the Sunday Shootout. The previous record at the famous hillclimb was set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld in a 574-KW (780-PS) McLaren- Mercedes MP4/13 with a combustion engine.
“In setting the new all-time record at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’, the ID.R has once again shown that Volkswagen’s electric powertrain can outperform even the most powerful conventional powertrains,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. “Romain Dumas exploited the full potential of the ID.R on this short but tricky track. After the victory on Pikes Peak and the e-record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, he has now achieved another milestone for electromobility. It was a strong performance from our whole team, which only had a very short time, in which to get a lightweight variant of the ID.R up and running for the ‘Festival of Speed’.”
“I am very proud to have set the all-time record in Goodwood with the ID.R. The short hillclimb is a very special challenge. Because the track is so short, I could not afford to make even the slightest mistake, and every aspect of the fine-tuning of the ID.R had to be perfect. That was particularly challenging, as we were not able to test on the route beforehand,” said Romain Dumas, who had previously taken overall victory with the electric record at the same venue in 2018.
Sprint version of the ID.R takes on the Formula 1 record
Volkswagen Motorsport had systematically modified the ID.R for its outing at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’. Among other things, the latest evolution of the electric race car was lighter than when it set the records on Pikes Peak and at the Nürburgring. “We used a smaller battery than at the Nürburgring and optimised the power output. As such, the new sprint version of the ID.R weighs less than 1,000 kilograms, with the driver on board,” said François-Xavier Demaison, Technical Director at Volkswagen Motorsport. The ID.R also completed its record- breaking run without the Drag Reduction System (DRS) that was designed for the high-speed sections of the Nürburgring, as the characteristic of the track in Goodwood made this superfluous.
Technology partner Bridgestone, which was also involved in the record-breaking run in Goodwood in 1999, also supplied special tyres for the 1.86-kilometre sprint. “We are proud to have been part of this project and the new record in Goodwood. To ensure the Volkswagen ID.R had the best tyres for this track, we developed a particularly soft variant of the Bridgestone Potenza slick,” said Mark Tejedor, Vice President OE Bridgestone EMEA. “We are obviously delighted that Bridgestone is still the tyre on the record-breaking car, even after more than 20 years.”
Around 180,000 visitors discover the ID. family
Approximately 180,000 visitors flocked to the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’ over the course of the weekend. As well as the on-track action, Volkswagen also offered them a fascinating glimpse of the future of electromobility. The brand presented a first public foretaste of the ID.31, which in 2020 will be the first model in the new ID. family to hit the market. Not only that, but Volkswagen also provided an insight into more future variants of the fully-electric series, in the form of the ID. BUZZ and ID. VIZZION studies.