VIDEO ROLL>> HIGGINS BREAKS ISLE OF MAN FOUR WHEEL RECORD
Most of you will be familiar with the infamous Isle of Man TT course, a 37.8 mile road course which cuts around the small island in the middle of the Irish Sea. Whilst it's more famous for its motorbike races, recently the four wheel record of the entire course was smashed by former British Rally champion Mark Higgins in a near standard Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The only modifications were the obvious safety features of a rollcage, harnesses and on-board extinguisher system. The car used the production model's engine, gearbox, clutch, brakes etc with only slight modifications to the suspension to prevent the suspension being damaged over the larger jumps on the circuit. The previous record held by the late Tony Pond was an average speed of 100MPH. Higgins managed an incredible average speed of 113MPH around the course on road legal tires.
However, the attempt wasn't without its moments as the above video shows. A sixth gear tank slapper almost lead to Higgins and his Road & Track magazine passenger redecorating someone's living room at an approximate speed of 150MPH. Cool as a breeze, Higgins catches the car, downshifts to fifth and powers on again but not before sharing a joke with his passenger.
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Paddy McGrath
