Legacy World Speed Records

Legacy World Speed Records:

January 11

All cars received 50,000 kilometer maintenance work. The No. 2 passed the 50,000 kilometer mark at 16:50:28. Its average speed of 225.857km/h (140.341 mph) broke Alfa Romeo’s international record. At 18:34:46 the No. 1 car passed the 50,000 mark with an average speed of 224.087km/h (130.241 mph), followed by No. 3 car at 19:10:07, boasting 223.56km/h (138.914 mph).

January 12

Arizona desert sand collected on the course, impeding the cruising speed of 230km/h (142.9 mph).

January 13

Strong winds blew tumbleweeds onto the race track, obstructing the course of the cars.

January 14

The No. 2 car reached speeds up to 240km/h (149.129 mph).

January 16

All cars were given their 75,000 kilometer maintenance work.

January 17

The No. 2 car broke the 50,000-mile world record at 12:13:24 with an average speed of 223.049km/h (138.780 mph). The No. 1 and No. 3 cars also broke the old record at 15:16:42 (221.182km/h – 137.436 mph) and 15:22:21 (221.111km/h – 137.392 mph), respectively.

January 21

At 1:20, Noriyuki Koseki took over as the last driver in the No. 2, with 450km remaining. At 2:00 the entire staff gathered in the pits, in anticipation of the record. The new 100,000km world speed record was set at 3:11:56 by No. 2 with an average speed of 223.345km/h (138.780 mph) and took 18.5 days (447 hours, 44 minutes, 9.887 seconds).

The last driver for the No. 1 took the wheel at 8:28, with 180km remaining, followed by the No. 3 at 9:00 with 380km left. The No. 1 car broke the old 100,000km world record at 9:15:26 with an average speed of 220.358km/h (136.924 mph). The other two cars rejoined the No. 3 car on the course as it drove its last laps. The No. 3 car finished at 10:42:43, still breaking the Saab world record with 219.664km/h (136.493 mph).

The 100,000km world speed record remained from January 21, 1989, until April 19, 2005, when it was broken by Mercedes-Benz with a diesel-powered engine. Since the Mercedes-Benz cars had diesels, Subaru Legacy has retained its Category A, Group I, Class 7 international records for 12 hours, 24 hours, 5000km, 5000 miles, 10,000km, 10,000 miles, 25,000km, 25,000 miles, 50,000km, 50,000 miles, and 100,000km.