VW decides against bringing ID.R to Goodwood
Volkswagen withdrew its ID.R all-electric prototype from last weekend’s Goodwood Speedweek event just two days beforehand, due to the accelerated COVID-19 infection rate across the UK and Europe.
The 670bhp ID.R time trial car, which borrows technology from Formula E, holds the outright Pikes Peak hillclimb and electric Nurburgring Nordschleife lap records, and was due to take part in Sunday’s shootout event. VW had targeted adding the fastest recorded lap of Goodwood to its unofficial hillclimb record from 2019.
But a statement from the manufacturer explained that Volkswagen was acting so as not to “compromise the health of its employees”.
It continued: “The background to this decision is the infection rate of the coronavirus, which has accelerated dramatically over the past few days – not only in England, but throughout Europe. A team of roughly 30 Volkswagen Motorsport employees was scheduled to attend the festival.”
Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets said: “We deeply regret not being able to attend Goodwood this year, but the health of our employees is of paramount importance. After lengthy internal discussions, we are convinced that this is the right decision in the current situation.
“We would obviously have loved to compete against the opposition at Goodwood Motor Circuit, but this is unfortunately not possible for us at the moment. It is not appropriate to bring such a large team from Germany to the UK at a time when measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus are being ramped up significantly in all European countries.”
The circuit lap record was still beaten over the weekend as Historic Formula 1 ace Nick Padmore set a 1m09.973s (122.44mph) time in an ex-derek Warwick 3.5-litre Ford Dfr-engined Arrows
A11 – eight seconds below Padmore’s existing lap record.