GRINDTV NEWSWIRE via Red Bull- Gorham, NH - (September 9, 2010) - The 149-year-old Mt. WashingtonAuto Road has seen the likes of horses and carriages, camels, people, bicyclesand most famously, competition race cars. Yesterday, traveling at an averagespeed of nearly 72mph in a Vermont SportsCar prepared, BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2011Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car, four-time Rally America National Champion TravisPastrana made sure the project name, Red Bull Speed Chasers, lived up to itsname. He reached the summit faster than anyone else in history by clocking anofficially timed run of 6 minutes 20.47 seconds, besting the previous record bymore than twenty seconds. Amazingly, Pastrana achieved the impressive time onhis first ever high-speed run to the summit. Pastrana has effectively throwndown the gauntlet in advance of the legendary Mt. Washington "Climb to theClouds" Automobile Hillclimb, which will take place in 2011 after a 10-yearhiatus. The 7.6-mile-long Mt. Washington Auto Road is oneof the ultimate challenges for driver and automobile, the serpentine tarmac andgravel road is lined with trees and dangerous drop-offs above the mountain'stree line as it winds its way to the 6,288foot summit of the Northeast's tallest peak. The road, which features more than100 turns, is mostly paved but features a technical dirt section that isapproximately one mile long. The road climbs4,618 ft from an altitude of 1,527 ft with an average gradient of 11.6%.
Pastranawas up to the challenge, and on his first attempt was able to set his fast time,besting "Climb to the Clouds" Hillclimb record holder Frank Sprongl's time of 6minutes 41.99 seconds, set in 1998. Pastrana attempted three more runs but eachtime he was slowed by near zero visibility conditions at near the summit, aslow rain clouds inundated the area. Pastrana's test session was officiallysanctioned by RallyCar (formerly Rally America).
"This isan amazing road, it's just so much fun," said Pastrana, who last New Year'sEve, set the world record for distance jumping in a car at 269 feet. "It'sextremely challenging, there is no room for error and the scenery is epic. TheMt. Washington Auto Road has some amazing history to it."
Pastrana,with his Vermont SportsCar team, as well as officials from the Mt. WashingtonAuto Road, conducted the Red Bull Speed Chasers test session to evaluate theroad conditions ahead of the 2011 Climb to the Clouds, which will make a returnJune 22-26, 2011 as part of the 150th anniversary of the Mt.Washington Auto Road.
Pastrana teamedwith veteran co-driver Marshall Clarke of Ireland on his runs to the summit.The duo spent Tuesday familiarizing themselves with the auto road in a streetcar at legal roads speeds and made detailed stage notes, the same process usedfor stage rally competition. Both Pastrana and Clarke had never driven the Mt.Washington Auto Road before, and thus the detailed notes played a key role inthe at-speed attempt the following day.
The Mt. Washington Auto Road wascompleted in 1861 and is the oldest man-made attraction in North America. Considered one of the oldestmotorsports events in the United States, the Climb to the Clouds was first runin 1904, with a winning time of 24 minutes 37 seconds, seven years before the first 500-mile race at theBrickyard in Indianapolis and twelve years prior to the inaugural Pikes PeakHillclimb in Colorado.
The Climb to the Clouds was then runsporadically until 1961, making acomeback in the 1990's. The lasttime the Climb to the Clouds ran was in 2001 on a shortened course due tosevere weather. In fact, the highest-recorded wind speed in the United States -an incredible 231 miles per hour - was on Mt. Washington in 1934.
"Travis' run was incredibly thrilling on a number of fronts," said Howie Wemyss, General Manager of the Mt.Washington Auto Road. "It's amazing that he was able to drive that car tothe summit in 6:20, and all the more so when you realize that he and hisco-driver had just seen the Auto Road for the first time the day before, and thetop quarter-mile was in thick fog! Our racing heritage here at the Auto Roadruns deep, having started in 1904 and now Travis is part of that heritage as the fastest person to the summit by automobile."
