Jaguar XF VLN / Nurburgring 24hr entry

[Ian Carvell]

January 1st, 2012 sees the launch of a new era for Carvell Motorsport Limited as the team moves to take on the challenge of the formidable Nurburgring Nordschleife in the VLN Championship with an exciting new race car programme.

Running a brand new car for the Championship - a modified 2012 model year Jaguar XF 3.0-litre Diesel S in the D3T class - the team will embark on an intesive test programme in January ahead of the first VLN round in April.

Why a Jaguar XF and not the usual (and highly effective) BMW 330d? The main team members are Automotive Engineers by day, and the emotive appeal of taking a class-leading, British-designed and built road car and developing it into a competitive racer was one too strong to resist.

Following considerable personal investment by the team members, the XF's transformation from road machine to racer has taken place at Carvell Motorsport's home in Daventry, where technical input from a number of key partners has ensured the car has been built to the highest standard.

In addition to the VLN Championship, the team is also targeting an entry into the formidable 24hr race at the Nurburgring in May, where we intend to run as a fund raising effort in aid of a local children's hospice for children under 5 years old.

You can follow us on Facebook, or on our dedicated website (www.carvell-motorsport.co.uk)where you can see how we are progressing. If you see us at a test in the UK or especially if you've made the effort to come to a VLN race, please feel free to come and say hello: you might get handed a cup of tea, a spanner or a cleaning rag, but always you will get a friendly word.

The XF team.

Edited by Ian Carvell on Monday 9th January 22:43

[ellis427]

sounds very interesting best off luck

[Straight6DOHC]

Yes! A racing Jaguar. Good luck.

[davepoth]

Shame they didn't go for the XF-R, but I reckon they'll have a chance of giving BMW a pasting on their home turf. Good on them.

[P-1]

We didn't go for an XFR because there's both a capacity limit on boosted engines and also we would be up against the likes of Lexus LFAs. Going for the diesel class in endurance racing gives us the best chance of being competetive in a specific class rather than going for overall honours.

Thanks for your well wishes though and please do keep an eye out for us.

[456lbft]

Ian Carvell said:

a spanner or a cleaning rag,

"I'm in!"
Good luck boys. See you at Silverstone (or another Midlands test venue?) 4th Feb.

Edited by 456lbft on Monday 16th January 17:52

[anonymous-user]

Just read about this on the company news. Top work choosing the xf! Will be following closely, good luck.

[volks al]

Good luck Ian, I will follow the reports on FB. Oh and epic lurking. See you with my mk1 to get tuned soon.

[Ian Carvell]

Thanks for all the comments guys...much appreciated.

We are just spending a bit of time to get the aero spot on, then we will get her out onto a proper racetrack in anger....I am really looking forward to seeing that!

[davepoth]

P-1 said:

We didn't go for an XFR because there's both a capacity limit on boosted engines and also we would be up against the likes of Lexus LFAs. Going for the diesel class in endurance racing gives us the best chance of being competetive in a specific class rather than going for overall honours.

Thanks for your well wishes though and please do keep an eye out for us.

Shame really - the XFR makes a lovely racket, but I guess racing isn't about the noise the car makes! I can't imagine what 24 hours round the ring would be like; I've done all of three laps and nearly died twice.

[tr7v8]

That looks fantastic. I love Jaguars & hope this does well.

[stinkysteve]

Excellent looking car chaps and a great choice. Lovely to see a JLR car compete against The Munchens.

best of luck with the campaign, i'll keep an eye open for progress and if i see you i'll say hello.

[P-1]

Thanks all for your positive comments. We've commenced our test programme and last weekend the car ran faultlessly at Bruntingthorpe. All being well we expect to have regular news updates on our website and some good photos after this coming weekend.

[Killer2005]

Further good luck

[456lbft]

Great to see the car for real today at Silverstone. Hope everyone got home OK through the snow.

Edited by 456lbft on Monday 6th February 09:06

[P-1]

Thanks to everyone who dropped into the garage to wish us luck and have a look at the car. It was very much appreciated by the whole team. And yes, we all got home safely.
Thanks again

[bnracing]

Do you guys have any support from JLR?? Or are you going it alone!!!
Good luck looks good.

[andy97]

Given the Carvells VAG roots I thought that they might have gone for a VAG product, something like this perhaps: http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/36976/audi_a...

[P-1]

It's a full privateer effort from CML. We just wanted to build and race something different to the usual German entries.

[Graebob]

Your efforts should be applauded; the car looks gorgeous Love a bit of variety on the grid.