Back in 2017, Travis Pastrana set a record of 5 minutes and 44 seconds at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb. That broke the previous record by 24 seconds, but it was still beatable. Last year, he got a brand new, 826-horsepower purpose-built racing Subaru WRX STI designed for Gymkhana 2020. He had a faster car and a hillclimb record to beat, so last weekend, he went out and beat his own record by 16 seconds.
The video is almost more incredible than the actual accomplishment. His “Air Slayer” STI is at full attack from the first second. For the first few miles that means flying between the trees at low elevation. But three minutes in, Pastrana hits the tree line. Suddenly, a blanket of trees is replaced by a sheer drop-off on the driver’s side for almost the entire rest of the run.
Thirty seconds after that, he hits the remaining unpaved sections of the climb. This is where it really becomes clear that that the Air Slayer is built for this. The surface change does not change Pastrana’s approach at all until one final dirt hairpin, where he gets enough room to finally pitch the car into a massive slide before rejoining the paved road.
All of it makes for one of the more memorable onboard runs you will ever see. Pastrana’s last record stood for four years. Unless someone decides that 826 horsepower is no longer enough for a rallying weapon, his new record could stand for much longer. For the full story, check out this article from Road & Track.
