VW smashes Nurburgring lap record for electric vehicles
Setting lap records at the Nurburgring — long held by enthusiasts to be the most thrilling and dangerous of race circuits, in roughly equal measure — may be just about the bragging rights, but they can be quite impressive bragging rights.
That’s why Volkswagen, not content with taking the electric car record for ascending the daunting Pikes Peak hillclimb in Colorado, decided to take on the ‘Ring with its ID-R electric race car.
Well, it may look like a race car but of course it’s not. There’s no racing series for which the ID-R currently fits the regulations, and in any case it cannot hold enough of a charge for an extended run.
For one hot lap, though? It can do that, and it can do that in just 6:05.336 minutes. That’s a new lap record of the Nurburgring Nordschleife (North Loop) for electric cars, and a full 40 seconds faster, over the 20km lap length, than the previous holder — the NIO EP9 which set its record in 2017.
VW specifically prepared the ID-R for the ‘Ring run, deviating from the Pikes Peak specification by adding a Formula One-style Drag Reduction System (DRS) which flattens out the rear wing for better speed down the straights, before popping back up for downforce around the corners.
The benchmark for speed around the ‘Ring is the ID-R’s distant cousin, the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo which, shorn of its need to comply with the regulations for the Le Mans 24hrs (which it won three times) has been setting speed and lap records around the world.
The 919 set a ‘Ring lap time of 5.19.545 minutes — faster than the ID-R by far, but then the Porsche has more than 1,000hp to play with and a petrol engine to boot. The ID-R’s time is even more impressive when you remember that its 500kW powerplant has 680hp to utilise.
Staggeringly, the ID-R’s lap record would also have been good enough for it to qualify in eighth place for the 1983 Nurburgring 1,000km sports car race — the last time that frontline racing cars battled on the Nordschleife.
While Volkswagen has been pulling its various brands out of motorsports — Porsche and Audi have left Le Mans, VW itself has departed from the World Rally Championship — the car-making giant seems to see more value in these one-off records.
“The Nordschleife of the Nurburgring is not only the world’s most demanding race track, it is also the ultimate test for production vehicles,” said Herbert Diess, Volkswagen Group chairperson.
“The ID-R has mastered this challenge with great distinction and has completed the fastest emission-free lap of all time. As further proof of its impressive performance capabilities, Volkswagen’s e-mobility can now proudly call itself ‘Nurburgring-approved’. I congratulate the team from Volkswagen Motorsport and driver Romain Dumas on the third record for the ID-R.”
Dumas, and former winner of Le Mans with Audi, was also at the wheel for the Pikes Peak run, and the ID-R’s record sprint up the hillclimb in front of Goodwood House.
“To be a record-holder on the Nordschleife makes me unbelievably proud,” said Dumas. “For me, this is the best and most difficult race track in the world. I want to thank the team at Volkswagen Motorsport, who have once again done a fantastic job. The ID-R was perfectly prepared for the Nordschleife and it was so much fun to experience the blistering acceleration and rapid cornering speeds.”
“This impressive success story is the result of meticulous preparation by our engineers, the flawless work by the whole team during testing and of course a perfect driving performance by Romain Dumas,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets.