After making a ground-breaking appearance at the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the Volkswagen I.D. R has won two ‘Race Car of the Year’ titles.
Awarded by the British Top Gear Magazine and German Auto Bild, the awards were given to the all-electric I.D. R which broke the record for the fastest time up the 19.99-km hill climb by 16 seconds – beating all previous efforts by combustion engine-driven models.
Awarded by the British Top Gear Magazine and German Auto Bild, the awards were given to the all-electric I.D. R which broke the record for the fastest time up the 19.99-km hill climb by 16 seconds – beating all previous efforts by combustion engine-driven models.
French racing driver Romain Dumas set a time of 7:57.148 behind the wheel of the racer, which is also the first car to go under eight minutes in the annual ‘Race to the Clouds’.
The I.D. R is the most extreme version of the I.D. all-electric family to be unveiled – with the first road-going version available from 2019.
On awarding the prize to Volkswagen, Top Gear wrote: “Powered by electricity not only to defy oxygen starvation at altitude, but also develop the instant torque necessary for teleport-level acceleration. So complete, so honed, surely the ID. R is now the template for success at Pikes Peak.”
Auto Bild said that the I.D. R was a “technological milestone”, and on receiving the titles, Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets, said: “We wanted to achieve two things with the ID. R. Set a new record on Pikes Peak and show how dynamic, emotional and powerful electromobility can be.
“When it comes to the sporting result, we far exceeded our expectations and completed the fastest assent of Pikes Peak in the history of the race. However, having these two popular magazines from Germany and Great Britain acknowledge this effort and crown the ID. R their ‘Race Car of the Year’ underlines the fact that we have also achieved our goal from a communication point of view. We are delighted with these awards.”