The Ultimate Challenge: Man and Machine on the TT Course

For me, the T.T. course has to be the ultimate challenge for man and machines. You can get it really, really right or unfortunately, you can get it really wrong. There are walls, there are trees, and there's not a lot of runoff, but when you do get it right, it is very, very rewarding.

It all started in 2011, and we got our first record then. But in doing so, we had quite a famous moment at the bottom of very hill. In spite of that, we did still manage to do quite a good time around the circuit in 2014. We came back with another production-based car and managed to knock a full 20 seconds off our lap time.

Now this time, we've built something very, very special, and we definitely want to go faster. This year, we're looking to achieve targets that are quite challenging. We brought in Pro Drive, anyone who follows rally racing knows the connection between Subaru and ProDrive. We've achieved six world titles together, and we were looking for a specialist, and we knew ProDrive was the only one to do it.

The base engine we're using for the project is a standard two-liter WRX STI unit, and it's very, very strong. We've had to make some small changes, but that was basically it, and that's what we're running today and achieving between 550 and 600 horsepower. This is now a pure racing machine. We've pulled about 900 pounds out of this car and everything is built on it with one goal and that's to go faster.

What's our target for this year? I think the first target has to be to get into the 120 miles per hour average. Anything over 125 miles per hour average would be pretty amazing as a Manxman, I obviously know the circuit very well, I was born here, but as much as you drive around at normal speeds, there's nothing that prepares you for driving around it flat out, it's a living thing, it changes every time you go out, it's full of spectators, the crowds and the marshals and everything do definitely give you that extra little push.

But your main focus is a long way up the road because of the speeds. As we go around the circuit, we've got information coming in on a dash in front of me that could be an issue with the car or there could be an issue with a particular corner, but for me, the split timings are the most important just to see how we're actually doing. You're at such high speed for such a long time, there are a couple of points where you can sort of take a breather, the only problem at the end of those breather points is normally a pretty critical corner to think about.

But it's the Mountain Mile that you need to be focused on. You can check your gauges, you can check all your readings to make sure everything's okay. The more you drive around the circuit, everything slows down and you're able to sort of compute what's going on around you even though you're doing up to 180 miles per hour. The old heart was fluttering a bit on the way in, a dream has always been to do at 125, so to come away with over 128 is just amazing.

Congratulations Mark! It's just way beyond what I could ever have expected in terms of time. There's only the Super Stocks and the Super Bikes ahead of us so it's all credit to Subaru, the project, and everybody involved in this. It's just amazing to be a little part of this big project, to be on the island, and get the chance to drive around this amazing place.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe alumni tt course for me has to be the ultimate challenge for man and machines you can get it really really right or unfortunately you can get it really wrong there's walls there's trees and there's not a lot of runoff but when you do get it right it is very very rewarding it all started in 2011 and we got our first record then but in doing so we had quite a famous moment at the bottom of very hill but in spite of that we did still manage to do quite a good time around the circuit in 2014 we came back with another production based car and managed to knock a full 20 seconds off our lap time now this time we've built something very very special and we definitely want to go faster this year quite a bit faster to achieve those targets we brought in pro drive anyone who follows rally racing knows the connection between su room prodrive we've achieved six world titles together we were looking for a specialist and we knew pro drive was the only one to do it the base engine we're using for the project is a standard two liter wrx sti unit and it's very very strong we've had to make some small changes but that was basically it and that's what we're running today and achieving between 550 and 600 horsepower this is now a pure racing machine we've pulled about 900 pounds out of this car and everything is built on it with one goal and that's to go faster so what's our target for this year we have a very different car but i think the first target has to be to get into the 120 miles per hour average anything over 125 miles per hour average would be pretty amazing as a manxman i obviously know the circuit very well i was born here but as much as you drive around at normal speeds there's nothing that prepares you for driving around it flat out it's a living thing it changes every time you go out it's full of spectators the crowds and the marshals and everything do definitely give you that extra little push but your main focus is a long way up the road because of the speeds as we go around the circuit we've got information coming in on a dash in front of me that could be an issue with the car or there could be an issue with a particular corner but for me the split timings are the most important just to see how we're actually doing um you're at such high speed for such a long time there are a couple of points where you can sort of take a breather the only problem at the end of those breather points there's normally a pretty critical corner to think about but it's the mountain mile you can check your gauges you can check all your readings to make sure everything's okay i think the more you drive around the circuit everything slows down and you're able to sort of compute what's going on around you even though you're doing up to 180 miles per hour the old heart was fluttering a bit on the way in a dream has always been to do at 125 so to come away with over 128 is just amazing congratulations mark cheers it's just way beyond what i could ever have expected in terms of the time is just incredible there's only the super stocks and the super bikes ahead of us so it's all credit to subaru the project and pro drive and everybody involved in this it's just amazing to be a little part of this big project and to be on the island and get the chance to drive around this amazing place youthe alumni tt course for me has to be the ultimate challenge for man and machines you can get it really really right or unfortunately you can get it really wrong there's walls there's trees and there's not a lot of runoff but when you do get it right it is very very rewarding it all started in 2011 and we got our first record then but in doing so we had quite a famous moment at the bottom of very hill but in spite of that we did still manage to do quite a good time around the circuit in 2014 we came back with another production based car and managed to knock a full 20 seconds off our lap time now this time we've built something very very special and we definitely want to go faster this year quite a bit faster to achieve those targets we brought in pro drive anyone who follows rally racing knows the connection between su room prodrive we've achieved six world titles together we were looking for a specialist and we knew pro drive was the only one to do it the base engine we're using for the project is a standard two liter wrx sti unit and it's very very strong we've had to make some small changes but that was basically it and that's what we're running today and achieving between 550 and 600 horsepower this is now a pure racing machine we've pulled about 900 pounds out of this car and everything is built on it with one goal and that's to go faster so what's our target for this year we have a very different car but i think the first target has to be to get into the 120 miles per hour average anything over 125 miles per hour average would be pretty amazing as a manxman i obviously know the circuit very well i was born here but as much as you drive around at normal speeds there's nothing that prepares you for driving around it flat out it's a living thing it changes every time you go out it's full of spectators the crowds and the marshals and everything do definitely give you that extra little push but your main focus is a long way up the road because of the speeds as we go around the circuit we've got information coming in on a dash in front of me that could be an issue with the car or there could be an issue with a particular corner but for me the split timings are the most important just to see how we're actually doing um you're at such high speed for such a long time there are a couple of points where you can sort of take a breather the only problem at the end of those breather points there's normally a pretty critical corner to think about but it's the mountain mile you can check your gauges you can check all your readings to make sure everything's okay i think the more you drive around the circuit everything slows down and you're able to sort of compute what's going on around you even though you're doing up to 180 miles per hour the old heart was fluttering a bit on the way in a dream has always been to do at 125 so to come away with over 128 is just amazing congratulations mark cheers it's just way beyond what i could ever have expected in terms of the time is just incredible there's only the super stocks and the super bikes ahead of us so it's all credit to subaru the project and pro drive and everybody involved in this it's just amazing to be a little part of this big project and to be on the island and get the chance to drive around this amazing place you\n"