A couple of months ago Subaru unveiled the specialised machine that – together with Prodrive – they hoped would break the four-wheeled Isle of Man TT record that Mark Higgins set back in 2014.

And over the weekend, that’s exactly what it did. By one heck of a margin.

The old benchmark of 19 minutes 15 seconds has now been consigned to history, as Higgins set an astonishing average speed of 126.971mph to clock a time of 17 minutes 49 seconds around the 37.73-mile course.

“I think 125mph (201kmh) was the dream before the start,” said the Manxman afterwards, who broke the record after completing just one practice run. “There’s a little bit more to come – definitely from me because I’m learning all the time I go around the track – and there is a little bit more to come from the car as well.”

Some people would settle for chopping 1 minute 26 seconds off the existing TT record. Not this man, though.

“The conditions were great - the only problem I had was in the last five or six miles when I couldn’t see for flies on the windscreen,” continued Higgins. “That made things a bit difficult in the last sector, but I can’t really complain because the bike riders have them on their visors all the time.”

More runs are due for the WRX STI throughout the coming week. At least we can safely say that Michael Dunlop’s outright record of sub 17 minutes in the Superbike class is out of reach. Then again