New video and pics: Subaru's record-breaking Isle of Man TT lap

The Subaru WRX STI driven by Mark Higgins has again broken the car lap record around the Isle of Man TT course.

Having shattered his own existing record on Saturday, today Higgins has posted a lap time of 17min 35.139sec, which equates to an average speed of 128.730mph around the 37.73-mile circuit. His lap time was more than 14sec faster than Saturday’s effort.

Today marked the second of three attempts Higgins is scheduled to make on the course record, and like Saturday's run, conditions were perfect. However, today’s effort started as scheduled at the height of the afternoon, whereas Saturday’s run was delayed until after 5pm. The temperature today was around 27degC, which caused the Prodrive engineers some concern over the effect the heat would have on components such as the engine and rear differential. Additionally, the tyres were worked much harder during the run.

Higgins made a strong start to his lap and was five seconds faster through the first split on the lap, at Glen Helen. He continued to build his pace and posted a top speed of 168.6mph through the speed trap at Sulby.

After the run Higgins told Autocar: “I’m delighted to beat the record again. It’s a fantastic achievement. However, I didn’t feel I was driving as well as I did on Saturday. We had a bit of a fuel pressure issue just before the start of the lap but the boys got it sorted. Due to the higher ambient temperature the car was starting to move around a bit towards the end of the lap.

who has won the British Rally Championship three times and carries out stunt driving on James Bond movies, has now twice eclipsed the standard he set in 2014, which was 19min 15.88sec (117.51mph). On that occasion, he used a Subaru WRX STI that was much closer to production specification.

The tyres used on this occasion were medium-compound Dunlop Sport Maxx slicks from a British Touring Car Championship racer; the 2014 standard was set on road-legal rubber.

The conditions were great - the only problem I had was in the last five or six miles when I couldn’t see for flies on the windscreen. That made things a bit difficult in the last sector, but I can’t really complain because the bike riders have them on their visors all the time."

After his run on Saturday, Higgins told Manx Radio: “I think 125mph 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.

However, today’s higher temperatures also meant that the midges and flies that splattered the Subaru’s windscreen and hampered Higgins’ visibility in the last few miles of the lap were less of an issue.

The car developed for the 2014 attempt was close to standard, with uprated dampers to deal with the island’s vicious bumps as well as slick tyres. This time around it is a purpose-built competition car built to FIA safety standards, a development of the experience learnt from previous TT runs but also Subaru WRC cars.

The project, which has been completed in less than a year, is a joint effort between Subaru USA and Prodrive. It uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged boxer engine that shares a lot of its hardware with a WRC engine; however, where that would rev to around 6500rpm, the TT car redlines at 8500rpm.

Combined with a larger turbo and tweaks to the engine management, the power figure is believed to be about 600bhp and torque of about 400lb ft. With a kerb weight suggested to be less than 1200kg, Prodrive claims this STI has a comparable power-to-weight ratio to a GT3 racing car.

There’s a drag reduction system (DRS) too, developed using Prodrive’s experience with Aston Martin’s GT racing and operated via a button on the dashboard. It allows the best compromise between low drag for the TT’s long straights but also the required downforce for the twistier sections.

How much quicker can you go?

“The dream was 125mph. We’re at 128 now, 130’s getting close. I don’t know. To put that in perspective, every second we gain on the average speed needs a lap time 10 seconds faster. There’s maybe a bit more power to come from the car, but there’s always a bit more to come from the driver. I’m still learning this place. Don’t forget, this was only my eighth flat-out timed lap of the track in my life – you just don’t get the opportunity to do these laps very often. There are maybe five or six corners where I’m going in there thinking: “Oooo, is it flat? Is it?” Trouble is, if I discover it’s not flat, I’m doing 160 or 170mph!”

How does breaking the record compare to what you’ve done before?

“It’s right up there. A World Rally Championship win would have been the ultimate, but this is right there.”

How does this compare to a rally or a rally stage?

“It doesn’t. It can’t. The mental focus for this is like nothing I’ve ever done before. You get a couple of places on the lap where you can chill a little bit, move in the seat and maybe take a quick breather – but equally that gives you time to think more about the corners coming and the speed you’re going through them; it’s best not to spend too much time thinking about that!”

Tweet