Coming second is lame. First loser and all that. So when Subaru Motorsport USA driver Travis Pastrana only scored the second-fastest time at the little ol' Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb run, he knew he needed to do better.
So Travis took himself back to the States for a go at another hill, the one he'd been focused on since Subaru premiered the hugely modified Airslayer WRX STI at Gymkhana 2020. The Mount Washington Hillclimb is America's oldest, and has been run up the 7.6-mile route since 1904 (albeit with several lengthy gaps).
The so-called Climb to the Clouds is a challenge, no doubt; not just thanks to Mount Washington's notoriously bad weather, but also the fact that - unlike Pikes Peak - the hill climb still includes unmade sections. So kudos then to Pastrana and his 862hp WRX STI, which broke the tape in a record time of 5 minutes, 28.67 seconds - over 45 seconds ahead of the nearest competition in the race.
"New record in the books!" said Travis after his winning run. "This car is the perfect machine to do it. Coming off a second-place finish at Goodwood I really wanted to set a new record here to show what the car could do in the right environment. Luckily we really had good weather this year and I knew if I could get a clean run in, I'd have a great shot at the [existing record] 5:44 time. So much fun and I can't wait to do it again next time!"
The new record holder has also won world championships and X Games gold medals in motocross, freestyle motocross, supercross and rally racing, and has driven in Nascar racing. His timing is impeccable, too - the latest generation of Subaru WRX STI is due to be unveiled at the New York show on Wednesday.
But enough of the words - check out the video. It won't take long...
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