Volkswagen ID.R Crowned ‘Race Car Of The Year’ Twice
The Volkswagen ID.R, the 500kW (680 PS) prototype sports car, has been crowned Race Car of the Year by specialist German magazine Auto Bild Motorsport and by BBC Top Gear magazine.
The award was presented to Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets at the formal gala during the Essen Motor show in Germany.
This high praise from two renowned magazines follows a year of success on the track for the model. In June this year, Romain Duman set a new all-time record of 7.57.148 minutes with the car at the ‘Race to the Clouds’ on Pikes Peak, beating the previous record by an impressive 16 seconds. This made the ID.R the first fully-electric racing car to win against cars powered by combustion engines.
Sven Smeets commented “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.”
Auto Bild Motorsport justified choosing the ID.R by explaining “It is the fastest hill climb car ever built – and at the same time a technological milestone.” BBC Top Gear explained “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.”
The Volkswagen ID.R is the forerunner of the ID. family of models which will launch in 2019.
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