Scott Speed and Subaru WRX: Project Midnight Set New Mount Washington Hillclimb Record

Subaru Motorsports USA driver Scott Speed set a new overall record at the 2026 Paul Giblin Memorial Climb to the Clouds this weekend, taking victory in the Subaru WRX: Project Midnight with a time of 5:11.982 on the Mount Washington Auto Road.

Speed and the Subaru Motorsports USA crew built toward the record throughout the weekend. Following two days of half-course runs on Friday and Saturday, competitors were set for two full runs up the mountain on Sunday – but as teams prepared for their first runs, a thick fog engulfed the upper mountain. Organizers made the call to shorten the first run and move the finish to mid-mountain, leaving the afternoon ascent as the field’s sole opportunity to record a full-course time. When the opportunity came, Speed delivered, using Project Midnight’s purpose-built combination of power, aerodynamics, and grip to claim the overall victory and lower the record by an incredible 16.688 seconds. ‘After I saw the time, it feels awesome!’ Speed said. ‘I’m glad to be able to throw down a time that was so much faster than any of us expected…This was a big mental challenge for me. It was so exciting. I pumped my fist at the finish line, and I don’t normally do that.’

‘With us going last, you can wait until it looks clear at the top and it still might not matter, because it takes five minutes to get there,’ Speed added. ‘This was the only time I ran the full mountain this weekend, and a lot of things had to go right. Huge thanks to Subaru, everyone at Mount Washington for putting on this event, and obviously our partner Yokohama for bringing a special tire for us.’

A key part of that effort came from Yokohama Tire, which developed bespoke tire options specifically for Project Midnight’s Mount Washington record attempt. Speed selected the Yokohama ADVAN A005 slick for the event, which uses a compound built from the company’s road-racing slick platform. The tires are designed to reach peak grip quickly and hold that performance over the short, intense climb. With wear less of a concern on the short 7.6-mile run, the focus was on immediate response, confidence, and maximum grip from launch to summit.

With Speed’s record-setting run, Subaru Motorsports USA continued a remarkable run at Climb to the Clouds, setting the overall record for the fifth time in five appearances, adding Project Midnight to the line of Subaru machines that have defined the modern era of Climb to the Clouds.
Photo credit: Subaru
Posted on Autotech-plus.com

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