Piloting the ID.R electric racer, Romain Dumas (F) completed the 99 tight corners on the Tianmen Mountain road in China in 7:38.585 minutes—a record for the ascent. So far, the 99 corners have been tackled with drifts, in either SUV or sports cars with conventional combustion engines—but never with an official start and finish line.

The ID.R currently also holds the records on Pikes Peak (US) and at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (GB), the electric lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

“Tianmen Shan Big Gate Road” on Tianmen Mountain is a true test; the 10.906-kilometer “China Challenge” runs to “Heaven’s Gate”—a 131.5-meter natural arch. The 99 hairpin turns, some with a radius of just six meters, are interspersed withshort sprints, fast winding sections with speeds of up to 230 km/h, and hard braking maneuvers in extremely narrow tunnels.

The ID.R is driven by two electric motors with a total system performance of 500 kW (680 PS), riding on tailor-made Bridgestone Potenza tires. A start and finish line were defined for notarial purposes, especially for the record attempt with the ID.R.