“That is one of the features of this race – you need to have a bit of luck too,” said Smeets. Pikes Peak was merely the beginning. When Romain Dumas guided the fully-electric ID. R to a new all- time record of 7:57.148 minutes at the most famous hill climb in the world on 24 June 2018, it heralded the start of a pursuit of a host of other international records. On that particular summer’s day in the US state of Colorado, Dumas also laid down the first marker in the most ambitious project in the history of Volkswagen Motorsport. “We did not have any predecessor. We literally started from scratch,” recalls François-Xavier Demaison, Technical Director at Volkswagen Motorsport. The challenge was huge. Starting at 2,862 metres and finishing at the summit at 4,302 metres above sea level, the “Pikes Peak International Hill Climb”, which was held for the first time in 1916, is widely regarded as the most demanding hill climb in the world. But the engineers had already been in record-breaking mood before the car even arrived at the race: thanks to the extensive use of computer simulations and innovative production methods, such as 3D printing, a mere 250 days passed between the start of the project and the rollout – the first functional test at a racetrack. VISIONARY DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY While Volkswagen Motorsport focussed on the chassis and drivetrain, the shape of the body - work was developed at Volkswagen Design. “Our task was to transfer the unmistakable styling of the ID. family from production cars to such an extreme and emotional race car,” says Klaus Bischoff, Head of Volkswagen Design. The overall result is a single-seater prototype that is visually reminiscent of an LMP1 car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The two electric engines that drive the front and rear axles generate a system performance of 500 kW (680 PS). The electrical energy is stored in a lithium-ion battery, split into two blocks next to and be - hind the cockpit.