Two years ago Subaru had a go with their rather fast and zippy WRX STI on the Isle of Man TT. They aimed to trash the old record of the highly demanding street track and they did it by going round the track in 19 minutes and 15 seconds. That was a hugely impressive time to set on the track, but now, Subaru is back and this time with an even more potent racer – the Subaru WRX STI Prodrive. Built by STI and tuned by Prodrive, this particular machine has been finely optimized to tackle the course. If you are still trying to figure out what course this is, we encourage you to zoom through these articles about the Lamborghini Aventador SV and the Kawasaki Ninja H2H tackling the Isle of Man.
Behind the wheel of the highly tuned Subaru WRX STI was Mark Higgins, a long-time rally driver who was once a driver for Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford, Vauxhall, and others. This time, his main goal was to beat the previous time and boy did he do it. Thanks to the new WRX STI with an engine good for 500 hp and bravery only a rally driver can have, Mark Higgins succeeded in beating the previous record by quite a margin. The clock stopped at 17 minutes and 49.75 seconds which is a lot faster than before.
The track measures 37.73 miles so for a driver to remain focused at these speeds all that time is quite an undertake.
Speaking to journalists right after the record run, Higgins said: “I think 125 mph was the dream before the start. I’ve only had one practice run so I’m over the moon to do that on only my second lap and there’s a little bit more to come – definitely from me because I’m learning all the time I go around the track – and there is a little bit more to come from the car as well.”
