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British Rally Driver Mark Higgins in a Subaru WRX STI set a new record for a car lapping the Isle of Man TT course at the 2011 Isle of Man TT. The Subaru set a time of 19 mins 37.4 seconds around the 37.7 mile Isle of Man TT course.

"It was the biggest moment of my life" Mark Higgins

Triple British rally champion Higgins, 40, was attempting to set the fastest average speed for a four-wheeled vehicle around the closed-road circuit, which runs through towns and over the 2,000ft Snaefell Mountain. Set by the late Tony Pond in a heavily modified Rover 827 Vitesse, the record had stood at 102mph for 21 years.

"I've tried to do this for a decade," says Higgins. Several manufacturers have shown interest in supporting such a bid for this TT Challenge, but he'd never been able to secure permission from the TT authorities. Subaru was the first manufacturer to be given the opportunity since 1990 and Higgins was the only man for the job; he's Manx born and bred.

"The car is basically a stock 2.5-litre STI," says Higgins. "It has modified brake pads, but the brakes are otherwise standard. We put rally suspension on because of the jumps and the high speeds. For safety, we have a roll cage, fire extinguisher and bucket seats."

"In terms of the engine, the biggest thing is the straight-through rally exhaust, which was a requirement of the organisers so they could hear us coming. It probably lifts power to the mid 300s [bhp]."

Critically, the Subaru was fitted with road-legal but track-orientated Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres, whereas Pond used competition slicks.

"Before I did my first run, I was not confident of doing a 100mph lap. We came here with a near stock car, which I hadn't driven before it arrived on the island, and we weren't on slick tyres. The biggest surprise was finding out that I'd averaged 113.5mph on my first lap. To do that in a mostly standard car on road tyres is almost unbelievable. It was a dream come true."

At his first attempt, Higgins smashed Pond's benchmark. Despite the Bray Hill incident, he managed 110.5mph on his second run. The following day he'd go on to set an average speed of 115.3mph with a lap time of 19min 37.4sec, two minutes quicker than Pond.

The scale of this TT Challenge could lead Higgins's record to outlast Pond's. We're on INSTAGRAM: [ Ссылка ]
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