He’s done it. Manx rally driver Mark Higgins on Saturday smashed his own Isle of Man TT record for cars.
He completed the 37.73-mile course in a blistering 17:49.75, resulting in an average speed of 126.971 mph.
This bests his previous record of 19:15.88 (average speed of 117.51 mph) set in 2014.
Of course, this was to be expected as Higgins’ new record was set in a highly-modified Subaru WRX STI whereas the previous record was set using a WRX STI that was virtually stock. His latest car is thought to be developing close to 600 horsepower. It’s also shod with racing slicks and a drag reduction system.
Nevertheless, Higgins’ run was definitely impressive, as small snippets of video reveal. No doubt Subaru will release a video of the complete run in due course.
Incredibly, this was only Higgins first attempt at this year’s Isle of Man TT. The three-time British Rally Championship and professional stunt driver has three more attempts planned.
Note, Higgins wasn’t the fastest on the day. Michael Dunlop set a new overall record for the Isle of Man TT with a time of 16:58.254 (average speed of 133.393 mph). He achieved this during an RST Superbike TT race on the back of a BMW S1000 RR Superbike.
Sadly, this year’s Isle of Man TT has already been marred by a couple of deaths. They included those of 27-year-old sidecar driver Dwight Beare and 50-year-old rider Paul Shoesmith.
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