British rally champion Mark Higgins called it ‘The biggest moment of my life’ – a sixth gear, 150mph (241km/h) lose – and miraculous save – on one of the Isle of Man TT course’s many treacherous corners. It happened in 2011 when Higgins was recruited by Subaru of America to attempt to reset the road car lap record on the iconic – yet infamous – British Isles street course. The previous long-standing record was well and truly smashed too, with the largely production-spec Impreza WRX STI the talented driver was behind the wheel of, lapping the 37.8-mile TT Mountain road circuit in 19 minutes and 56 seconds. That translates to an average speed of 113mph (182km/h), with an achieved top speed of 162mph (260km/h)! As the clip above shows, it was on the Bray Hill section – not long after the flying start – where Higgins came just a little bit unstuck. But like his passenger – who amazingly didn’t even seem to flinch while armfuls of corrective steering were being skillfully applied – Higgins lived to tell the tale of the unforgettable moment.
Not content though, he’s now headed back at the end of this month, and with a new-model, US specification STI at the ready will attempt to go even quicker. Hats off to that man!
Brad Lord
brad@speedhunters.com
Photo: Subaru