The long-standing road-car lap record for the Isle of Man TT circuit has been comprehensively smashed in a production-spec Subaru WRX STI saloon.
In its very first run around the challenging 37.8-mile course, former British Rally Champion Mark Higgins posted a blistering lap time of 19 minutes and 56.7 seconds, translating to an average speed of 113mph. The peak speed achieved during the lap was 162mph.
Higgins' time is more than two minutes faster than the previous record, set by the late Tony Pond 21 years ago to the day (on 6 June 1990), at the wheel of a Rover 827 Vitesse. Pond was the first to break the average 100mph barrier in a road car, and his lap record has stood ever since.
The WRX STI used for the record breaking run was a standard Subaru production car, equipped with a 300PS Horizontally-Opposed Boxer engine, unmodified brake callipers and with road-legal Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres. Springs and dampers were adjusted to minimise any potential damage when the car encountered the various bumps and jumps at high speed along the course.
The outright lap record on the TT course was set in 2009 by John McGuinness on a Honda CBR1000RR 'Fireblade' motorcycle. McGuinness posted a time of 17 minutes and 12.3 seconds, equivalent to an average speed of 131mph.