This year’s Pikes Peak race to the clouds will be headed by the VW I.D. R Pikes Peak electric race car. The I.D. earned this honor by setting the fastest time during the qualifying session in which Romain Dumas climbed the first 8 kilometer section of the course in 3:16.083.

That was more than 11 seconds faster than the second fastest time, which will kind of make the race itself pointless, and VW I.D. R’s win a forgone conclusion. After all, it had a huge gap in qualifying over the second quickest car. Mind you, Pikes Peak is a hill climb and qualifying times are only used to determine the starting order for the race. They are not really important. The race could still hold surprises.

On Sunday 24 June VW will pursue its goal of setting a new record for the famous Pikes Peak course in Colorado-an occasion that will not only be a great achievement for VW and their driver, but for electric cars everywhere.

“That was a very good day for us,” said Dumas. “The I.D. R Pikes Peak is incredible. I have never experienced acceleration and power like that in a racing car. I am noticing how the car and I are becoming more and more of a unit with every kilometer,” said the Frenchman.

Sven Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport Director, was also happy with the way qualifying panned out: “A big compliment to the entire team. We completed an important test yesterday, the findings from which have helped us to further optimize the set-up of the I.D. R Pikes Peak. The result is that the car was superbly prepared today, and the time speaks for itself. However, that was only qualifying. We are optimistic about the race, but must always bear in mind that we only have one single attempt.”