Subaru’s Mark Higgins has strapped in and driven a WRX STI down an Olympic Bobsled Run in the Swiss Alps…

MARK HIGGINS is the current four-wheeled lap record holder for the Isle of Man TT, but it seems Subaru of America wanted to push him a little bit harder… and so it asked him to take his WRX STI to the Swiss Alps and drive it down an Olympic Bobsled Run. And, so he did.

The track is just over 1.6-kilometres long and contains 14 bends, the longest being 29 metres which ends in a steep drop to the left. It’s the sort of turn that a bobsled is designed to handle but perhaps not a WRX… Prodrive was tasked with preparing the 2015 Isle of Man record-holding WRX STI:

A safety net was added to ensure that Mark wouldn’t follow out of the car if it ended up on its side; it already had a fully-welded FIA-approved roll cage;

• The fuel tank was removed and replaced with one holding less than 10 litres;
• Extra steel was welded in to keep the thing from flexing too much in the high-g turns;
• Bumper blocks were added to the car to absorb the impact as it crashed along the ice walls;
• Studded, anti-puncture tyres were fitted and the brakes made bigger; and
• The suspension was stiffened by 50% compared to that of its Isle of Man set-up.