Volkswagen has brought along a concept version of an all-electric Golf R hot hatch to the Zell Am See ice racing event in Austria.
'Quite a show for the fans'
"The Ice Race in Zell am See thrilled many fans with its first revival last year. The combination of motorsport and a circuit on ice in the middle of the Alps is fantastic," said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets.
"With the selection of racing cars that we are taking to Zell am See this year, we will put on quite a show for the fans. I think we have found an exciting mix of current and vintage cars. Furthermore, with the fully-electric cars, we are able to offer a view of the future."
Tanner Faust and Hans-Joachim Stuck in action
Volkswagen last year said that it would pull back from traditional forms of motor sports and concentrate, in the future, on electric racing series. That hasn't quite happened here - American racing star Tanner Foust and racing living legend Hans-Joachim "Strietzel" Stuck will be at the wheel of a petrol-powered Beetle R, with 560hp and four-wheel drive, over the weekend.
400hp for the electric Golf R?
However, Volkswagen is using the event to show off this electric Golf R concept about which it has given us no more details than that it simply exists. If we had to guess, we'd say there's two 200hp ID.3 engines under there, giving the car the four-wheel drive needed to justify the R badge, and around 400hp in terms of power. That's a total guess though.
Other cars being shown off by Volkswagen amidst the snow and ice include the new T-Roc R, the ID.R all-electric prototype race car, fresh from destroying records at both Pikes Peak and Goodwood, and a gorgeous little 1970s 1302 Beetle 'S' rally model known as the Salzburg Beetle.