Volkswagen Readies ID.R EV to Take Nürburgring-Nordschleife Lap Record

It hasn't been a year since Volkswagen and Romain Dumas broke the Pikes Peak hill climb record by 16 seconds and they're already preparing two Volkswagen ID.R fully-electric race cars to take the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record as well.

On the 20.832-kilometer-long circuit, Dumas completed an extensive testing programme, driving two alternative ID.R chassis to make optimal use of the available time. In doing so, Volkswagen Motorsport began the final preparation phase for the attempt to set a new lap record for electric vehicles on the tradition-steeped track in the Eifel with the 671 hp race car.

"It was a great moment to drive the ID.R on my favorite track for the first time," said Dumas. "The cornering speeds in the ID.R are much higher than I am used to in GT race cars. But I feel good in the cockpit and that is really important here. The Nürburgring-Nordschleife has larger and more numerous bumps than the race tracks on which we have tested so far. So, we have concentrated on adapting the shock absorbers and the ride height to suit the unique characteristics of this track."

With the data from the first test on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the engineers from Volkswagen Motorsport will now work on continuing to fine-tune the ID.R before the electric race car takes to the most challenging race track in the world once again. The record attempt by the ambassador for the future fully-electric production vehicles from the Volkswagen ID. product family is planned for summer 2019.