06
June
2016
|
15:32 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Subaru, Mark Higgins and Dunlop set a new car lap record - on the ultimate motorcycle circuit

6th June 2016

Dunlop Continues To Break Isle of Man Records

- Sport Maxx BTCC tyre breaks the car lap record on first run around iconic TT Mountain Course
- Second attempt results in another 3kmh improvement

While Michael Dunlop was busy making history (appropriately, on Dunlop tyres) on Saturday by setting a new two-wheeled lap record at the Isle of Man TT, Dunlop Tyres were also breaking records on four wheels. Running on medium compound Sport Maxx BTCC race tyres, triple British Rally Champion Mark Higgins smashed the previous record for a car around the iconic 37.73 mile (60.721km) Isle of Man TT Mountain course.

Dunlop teamed up with Subaru in a bid to break the record they set in 2014, when Higgins took a Dunlop road tyre-shod Subaru to a record-breaking 117.510mph (189.114kph). On Saturday, on its first competitive run around the course, they shaved nine seconds off the lap, with a time of 17m 49.75 seconds, an average speed of 126.971mph (204.34kph).

Today, the Manxman demolished that record, with another 14 seconds off the lap time, to take a 17m 35.139sec lap, an average speed of 128.73 mph (207.171kph).

The Subaru WRX STi time attack car, jointly developed by Subaru of America and Prodrive, will attempt another run around the course on Wednesday, with the main focus on smashing the record further on Friday’s Senior TT day.

Mark Higgins: “Saturday offered ideal conditions and we were delighted to do the time we did on the first run, which was more than we ever expected. I had a dream of doing 125mph in my head, so to do near on 127mph straight away was a really good start. The Dunlop grip level was really good, we used the same tyre for the practice run and the main run, which was a surprise as we expected to put new tyres on every time. The performance is really good and it seems very consistent.

“Over the mountain was good. It’s always tricky, you think you know it, but there are always bits that catch you out. Although you’re going fast on closed roads, it’s another matter doing it at 160-170mph. On the run today, in much hotter conditions, we changed the set-up on the car, we went harder and made a few tweaks, to the ride-height too, but the car’s not a million miles away.

-ends-

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