US-spec Jaguar XK Racer Hits The UK
Jaguar ALMS racer to make rare UK visit to Autosport show
It might have been a while since the 1980s Group C glory days of the XJR-9, and even longer since the 1950s Jaguar domination of Le Mans, but it's good to Jaguar still playing its part in sports car racing.
The 550bhp ALMS Jaguar is built to GT2 sports car regulations, and has been jointly created by the Jaguar engineering and design teams in Coventry, and the Michigan-based RSR team.
"Our designers and engineers have taken the best of our standard road-going XKR and with Paul Gentilozzi's motorsport expertise created a first-class competition car," says Mike O'Driscoll, managing director of Jaguar. "Paul and his RSR team are confident that they can compete against some serious competition in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS)."
The XKR GT will share the Jaguar stand at the Autosport show (which shares NEC-space with our very own PistonHeads Performance Car Show) with the 225.675mph Jaguar Bonneville XFR prototype.
Spec-fiends can check out the technical details of the Jaguar RSR XK below:
Jaguar XKR GT2 – technical highlights
CHASSIS Jaguar XKR bonded and riveted Aluminium monocoque, with RSR steel reinforcements and safety structure.
ENGINE Jaguar AJ133 5.0 Litre V-8
TYRES Yokohama racing slicks
Engine Management Bosch
Data Acquisition Motec
SPARK PLUGS Bosch
BRAKES Brembo 6 Piston Front Calipers on 380mm discs / 4 Piston Rear Calipers on 350mm discs
SHOCK ABSORBERS Ohlins DR4
TRANSMISSION 6 speed Hewland CST Transverse Sequential Transaxle
WHEELS BBS 18” 3 piece
WEIGHT 1245 kg / 2744 lbs
LENGTH 4790 mm / 188.5 inches
WIDTH 1996 mm / 78.5 inches
HORSEPOWER Approximately 550
RPM 7000
MAX. SPEED 180 MPH
Should of been called
The American Race Series Endurance and Sprint
Should of been called
The American Race Series Endurance and Sprint
The ALMS has been running for years. The name allows sponsors, teams and public to make the link with Le Mans, which is obviously handy from a marketing standpoint. Plus the fact that the a fair few ALMS teams compete at La Sarthe every year. There is no 24hr round - but there is a 12-hour at Sebring and the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, along with the 2hr 45min sprint races.
There's also the Le Mans Series (LMS) in Europe, which doesn't have a round in France either. Should that be renamed also? Perhaps they could use a similarly catchy title to the one you suggested above...
Good Lord!! What ever next.
If someone over here had the will, there's no reason why a European team couldn't run a GT2 XKR. It's just soooo easy to pick up a Porker and go GT2 racing, the damn things are everywhere.
And the reason it's the American Le Man Series is because they run to ACO Rules for the classes, with a few local performance equalising tweaks, just as the LMES runs those same rules in this part of the world. It means you have a big pool of cars eligable for the great race.
Not saying it won't happen though, because I vaguely recall them mentioning LM 24hour aspirations when they interviewed the team owner at the Petit Le Mans last year. But it won't be 2010.
Should of been called
The American Race Series Endurance and Sprint
It's known as a concept, it uses the Le Mans name to bring more publicity to the sport. Only a good thing as this has some of the most exciting racing on the planet.
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