Pikes Peak Hillclimb harder than Le Mans 24 Hours - VW's Dumas
Volkswagen electric prototype driver Romain Dumas says the Pikes Peak Hillclimb's challenge eclipses every other event he has contested - including the Le Mans, Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hours
Double Le Mans winner Dumas travelled straight from the World Endurance Championship showpiece to Colorado, where he is spearheading the Pikes Peak electric record attempt that represents VW's biggest factory motorsport project since its World Rally Championship exit.
VW is aiming for its ID R prototype to beat the 8m57.118s electric record set by Rhys Millen in 2016.
Dumas said the one-shot nature of Pikes Peak - where each competitor is only allowed one run on the 12.4-mile course - makes it the most difficult driving challenge he has tackled.
"This is Pikes Peak, at the end of the day I always say it's the hardest race," said Dumas, who has won the event three times in Norma sports-prototypes.
"Even compared to Le Mans, Nurburgring or Spa, whatever, even some rallies, even the Dakar - because you cannot recover from any issue. It's a lot of pressure.
"It means you have to have the perfect run. It's my sixth time here, but you only have one chance each year.
"I'm looking at a lot of video and data, to see where I can gain, what I can do - the challenge is very high.
"We are ready, anyway. We've had a perfect week. We've gone step by step, the car is very fast, and we'll see what happens on the day."
Dumas set the fastest time in qualifying, and his pace over the three sectors in practice - which are run separately - has suggested he could beat the outright Pikes Peak record of 8m13.878s set by Sebastien Loeb and Peugeot in 2013.
The all-electric VW, which features two motors on each axle, produces 500kW (680 PS) and has a 0-100km/h (62mph) acceleration time of 2.25 seconds.
"I always said the best car for Pikes Peak would be electric," said Dumas.
"You have to fight against losing power, brakes and downforce [at altitude], but you don't lose power with this car.
"I'm in love with this race, the mountain is so beautiful. It's a kind of Nordschleife, but for sure with even more risks."
Previous article
How to start a motorsport engineering career in national racing
Next article
Electric Volkswagen smashes Sebastien Loeb's Pikes Peak record
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands
The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"
From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...
How Radical's latest machines fare on track
The lightweight sportscar manufacturer has not rewritten the rulebook with its latest machines, but the new SR3 XX and SR10 still provide a step forward on its previous successful models
The real-life racing rogues stranger than fiction
The forthcoming Netflix film linking the world of underworld crime and motorsport plays on a theme that isn't exactly new. Over the years, several shady figures have attempted to make it in racing before their dubious dealings caught up with them
How a GP is thriving in a COVID-free territory
The New Zealand Grand Prix's mix of rising talent and big-name stars thrilled the crowds (yes, remember crowds?) assembled for the Toyota Racing Series meeting at Hampton Downs last weekend and left distant observers craving a repeat
How a much-changed Macau GP kept the party going
OPINION: The 67th edition of the Macau Grand Prix might have been a largely muted affair to the outside world without its international influx and star line-ups, another victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, but organisers deserve huge credit for keeping the party going
