July has certainly been an exceptional month for Subaru. Subaru drivers have not broken one, but two, records at significant events this month. Keeping with tradition, the Subaru team has broken the Mt. Washington Hillclimb record time. Additionally, Subaru broke the record for saloon-class vehicles in the Nurburgring race.
Nurburgring
Setting a record at this legendary event is something to cherish. Taking on the Nordschleife can be daunting, and Subaru took this in stride. The Subaru team was able to set this record with Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special in an impressive 6 minutes 57.5 secs. This powerhouse WRX was able to complete the course faster than the Ferrari 599XX, which is track only, and fell behind the Porsche 918 Spyder.
Mt. Washington Hillclimb
It has been a continuing tradition for Subaru to set and defend its records at the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb, of which Subaru is the sponsor. However, the Subaru team outdid itself this year. Team driver Travis Pastrana utterly surpassed the previous 2014 record time of 6 minutes 9.09 seconds with a time of 5 minutes 44.72 seconds. The previous record was set by David Higgins, who is no stranger to breaking records on Mt. Washington. When he broke the record for the climb in 2014, he was breaking his own record which he had set in 2011.
Higgins and Pastrana both raced in this year’s climb, but Pastrana was the one who took home the record. Higgins actually suffered a minor accident and his vehicle went off of the course. He was unscathed, but unable to finish the climb.
The Subaru team was quite pleased with the win, to say the least, with the team winning a Subaru staple. Subaru motorsports marketing manager Rob Weir spoke about the victory, saying, “To defend and beat our old record took massive commitment from the team and especially our drivers. We put a production-based WRX STI on the top of the podium even against purpose-built hillclimb machines.” Subaru has had an exceptional summer thus-far, and the team should continue on their streak into the fall.
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