Volkswagen has smashed the Pikes Peak uphill record with a laptime below eight minutes, more than 16 seconds quicker than the previous record.
VW entered its fully-electric I.D. R Pikes Peak, which was specially developed for the climb up the famous 20km mountain run, and achieved a time of 7:57.148 with Romain Dumas at the controls, despite previously downplaying the possibility of dipping below the eight-minute mark.
WRC champion Sebastien Loeb's previous record of 8:13.878, behind the wheel of Peugeot's twin-turbo 208, has stood since 2013.
"The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the sporty forerunner of Volkswagen’s fully-electric I.D. family," commented VW's Dr. Frank Welsch. "Today, we saw what this technology is capable of.
"Every Volkswagen employee can be extremely proud of today’s result. I congratulate the team from the bottom of my heart. With a combination of outstanding engineering skill, passion and commitment, the team has managed to create a fantastic racing car in just eight months.
"The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak has now set the fastest time in the history of this hill climb, which spans more than 100 years – that speaks volumes for electric mobility."
Dumas believes he could have gone quicker however had it not been for a damp middle section as he ran through heavy fog.
"I had some fog and it was quite humid with some damp in the second section," he added. "I’m happy with this, but we could have gone quicker if that middle sector had been dry."
