Watch Volkswagen Reveal ID R Pikes Peak Racer Here At 11am EST

Volkswagen and its various brands may be pulling out of racing series around the world, but that doesn’t mean that it will stop competing in motorsport – it’ll just do it in a different way.

Set to be unveiled in the metal (or, more likely, carbon) next week, this is our best look to date at the new Volkswagen ID R Pikes Peak racer.

Powered entirely by electricity, the ID R is set to tackle the famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado this June. It looks something like the hybrid Le Mans prototypes that Porsche and Audi have fielded in recent years, only it doesn’t have an internal-combustion engine. Moreover, it doesn’t have to comply to regulations as tight as those issued by the FIA and ACO, so there’s more freedom from a design and an engineering point of view.

The project brings together the forthcoming ID line of electric vehicles together with the Volkswagen R GmbH performance division, and it’ll be out to settle a score from some 30 years ago as in 1987, the German manufacturer set out with a twin-engined Golf to tackle the infamous Race to the Clouds, but fell short of victory.

To hustle it to the top of the hill, the automaker has solicited the services of Romain Dumas. The Frenchman won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for sister company Porsche two years ago and it’ll be in his home town of Ales, France, where VW will finally unveil his new ride in full on April 22.