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Goodwood SpeedWeek Ready to Start, But Without a New Record Attempt from VW ID.R

This year we've had many reasons to bemoan the current state of things, as the impact of the global health crisis has been devastating for the entire industry. Fans have been deprived of many events that were taken for granted, and nobody can plan too much in advance, as it turns out.
Goodwood SpeedWeek & Volkswagen ID.R 15 photos
Photo: Goodwood / VW
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Case in point, the scheduled participation of the Volkswagen ID.R fully electric racing prototype has been canceled mere hours before the official start of the Goodwood SpeedWeek (October 16th - 18th). It is due to health concerns, of course, as the German automaker decided it was too dangerous for the 30 Volkswagen Motorsport employees to make the trip to the estate.

We deeply regret not being able to attend Goodwood this year, but the health of our employees is of paramount importance,” said Sven Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport Director. “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.”

Originally, the VW ID.R - multiple record holder at the Nurburgring, Pikes Peak, Goodwood’s hill climb, or even the distant Tianmen Mountain in China - was supposed to compete in the SpeedWeek shootout.

Similar in format to the classic Hillclimb of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the shootout would have counted on the ID.R to be one of the main attractions – it won the FoS event back in 2018 and 2019 with Romain Dumas even posting a new all-time record of 39.90 seconds last year.

Of course, there are still many other stars ready to compete for all-out fame at this one-of-a-kind event (hopefully it will remain unique, as everyone wants to see the FoS and Revival return in 2021), which is open for anyone to see (free of charge) virtually on Goodwood’s own website and live on TV (British ITV channels 1 and 4).

For example, we have already heard from the Blue Oval company that its Mustang Mach-E 1400 all-electric prototype will visit the event alongside the newly announced Puma ST, among others. The carmaker also hinted at surprise reveals - and it certainly won't be the only one.
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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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