10 Jul There’s a New “King of the Hill” at Mt. Washington

Subaru Rally Team USA Rally Review

Article originally written for American Rally Association here.

Gorham, NH (July 10, 2017)

Travis Pastrana set a brand new record at the Subaru Climb to the Clouds this past weekend, besting the 6:09.09s record set in 2014 by his Subaru Rally Team USA teammate David Higgins. Pastrana set the new benchmark time of 5:46.28s during the morning run session. Three hours later, Pastrana eclipsed his own record by 2 seconds, celebrating with a power slide over the finish line and cementing the new 5:44.72 time as the fastest up Mt. Washington – ever.

“It’s awesome,” said Pastrana, “this car, the Subaru, is absolutely – it’s a monster. The tires, halfway up, were just so hot from sliding, it felt like we were on dirt the rest of the way. All smiles. Scary, very scary, but I’m freaking so pumped right now. I want this record to stand.”

Mt. Washington has been a home to racing since the Auto Road’s inception more than 150 years ago. Col. Joseph Thompson drove a single-horse carriage to the mountain’ peak three weeks before the Auto Road’s official opening in 1861. Thompson did so as a race to beat his friendly business rival, Col. John Hitchcock, to the top. Since 1904, Mt. Washington has been home to sanctioned motor racing, making it one of the oldest motorsports events in the world. For one-hundred thirteen years, competitors have raced full bore up the narrow dirt and tarmac summit access road to the mountain’s 6288 ft summit.

This year, Pastrana set his new place in the mountain’s history with as close to a perfect weekend as one can have at a hillclimb event. He charged out of the gate during Friday’s practice session on the upper half of Mt. Washington and set the fastest time on the 4 mile course by several seconds.

The following day, on the lower half of the mountain, Pastrana again set the standard, running faster than all competition by several seconds. Anticipation mounted Saturday evening, adding up times from the previous two days of practice pointed to Pastrana setting a time around 5:45s on the full course.

On both practice days, Pastrana’s Subaru Rally Team USA teammate, David Higgins, was several seconds off the pace. Higgins was the defending champion and record holder at Climb to the Clouds. Higgins has more experience on the Mt. Washington Auto Road than most, setting the overall record up the mountain in 2011 and 2014. Rumor of his sandbagging, purposely hiding his speed, began to circulate the paddock Saturday night.

Higgins’ true pace this year will remain unknown. During Sunday’s first session on the full Mt. Washington Auto Road, Higgins entered the Cragway corner with too much speed. Pitching his car sideways in the dirt, Higgins’ right rear wheel made contact with a boulder at the side of the road and he went off into the grass. The impact damaged the rear suspension of his Subaru beyond repair, forcing Higgins’ retirement.

“It was going really well up until it went really bad,” said Higgins, “it’s one of those events that you put so much work into one small run, so the disappointment is massive. If you are going fast enough to win the event you are going fast enough to crash. But there is no better person to lose my record to than Travis. I’m really happy for him and the job the team has done.”

One hint of Higgins’ true speed in the hillclimb spec Subaru came at the speed trap, Higgins topped the listings at 116 mph, besting Pastrana by 1mph.

We’ll have another team review out tomorrow, so check back here for our weekend review of Team O’Neil drivers Dave Wallingford and Tim O’Neil.

Photo Credit: Matt Kalish (Top, 3), Mt. Washington Auto Road (1), Alex Wong (2), Matt Stryker (4)

About American Rally Association (ARA)

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