– Preparation for the ‘Pikes Peak International Hill Climb’ in Colorado enters critical phase about three weeks prior to the event.
– Driver Romain Dumas very impressed after first test at Pikes Peak.
– First all-electric powered racing car from Volkswagen with a system performance of 500 kW (680 hp) is on the hunt for a track record for electric cars.
The I.D. R Pikes Peak has completed the first test for the ‘Pikes Peak International Hill Climb’ on the original track in the US state of Colorado: Driver Romain Dumas was impressed with the performance of the all-electric powered racing car. Since the track to the summit at an altitude of 4,302 metres is a public road, the team only had access to it for three hours. For preparing for the further test runs and the race on 24th June, Volkswagen Motorsport has established a permanent base in Colorado.
« The news from Colorado is very positive: we are on schedule with the preparations for the I.D. R Pikes Peak and can now focus on the fine-tuning, » explained Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. « It is the result of a very strong team performance, initially here in Germany and now by our team on site in the USA. If we continue to work with focus and motivation, we are in with a good chance of setting a new record time for e-cars on 24 June. »
During the first test in the USA, the team mainly focussed on the suspension, tyre tests, and the optimum use of battery charge and energy recycling when braking. « Perfect energy management is one of the key factors for successfully attacking the record in the electric car category,