Tuesday 19th July 2011

Jaguar Eyes Up Return To Le Mans

Jag could join manufacturer rush to the iconic 24-hour race

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Some of these...

Jaguar is once again aiming for the top step of the Le Mans podium, the first time it has gone after an outright win at the 24-hour race for 20 years.

According to Autosport magazine, a decision has been made 'in principle' for a full-on assault on victory at La Sarthe, and now Jaguar and parent company Tata Motors are looking into creating an all-new LMP1 challenger.

Jaguar certainly has form at Le Mans - its roll-call of seven victories makes it the most successful British marque there (beating Bentley's six titles), so we hope Tata and Jaguar are taking this return seriously. The early indications seem promising, however, as Jaguar isn't setting a timescale at the moment - and this is not the sort of project that should be rushed into...

...could be fighting these...

It looks as if Jaguar will have some pretty stiff competition out on the circuit, mind. As we reported a few weeks ago, Porsche is after its 17th overall victory with a programme that will see the Stuttgart shield return to Le Mans in 2014. Oh, and word has it that Toyota has been working on its own LMP1 prototype since 2010 - and Toyota is a marque that's very hungry for a Le Mans Wins after its oh-so-close attack with the GT-One in the late 1990s.

So, are we about to see a new golden age of Le Mans, with Aston Martin, Porsche, Jaguar, Toyota, Peugeot and Audi all squabbling for the honours? We hope so, although it seems possible that Audi may bow out if Porsche makes a return, rather than indulging in internecine conflict with its VW group stablemate...

...and a bit of this in the future

But whatever the state of Le Mans over the next few years, perhaps Jaguar's keenness to play at the top-end of the automotive game might translate into some seriously rapid road cars. We know the CX75 is already heading for production - so could Jaguar's return to Le Mans herald a kind of modern-day XJ220? Here's hoping...

 

[PaulMoor]

Fingers crossed. I realy should get down to Le-Mans at some point. Hopefully I will be able to make it in a classic year.

As for VW, they seem happy to let the companys compeat elsewere, so why not at Le-mans?

[Shaun350z]

Lets just hope that it's not as slow as this years Aston.

[300bhp/ton]

For me, this is where I'd like to Jag racing again. Not F1. Touring and GT cars is where their heritage is.

And not forgetting this beauty (that sadly never raced )

[scubadude]

300bhp/ton said:

And not forgetting this beauty (that sadly never raced )

That is just pure PORN

[Munich]

"whispers that the CX75 might be heading for production" - on Jaguar's website, Product Manager for the CX75, job was advertised the other day....

[Mark-C]

[S18DMW]

Seems like Sports car racing is having a U-turn in interest from manufacturers and fans alike at the moment. This can only be a good thing, I'm not old enough to have seen the group C cars back in the day, be nice to see the modern versions going head to head.

[chevronb37]

This is great news, especially as the new manufacturers coming in seem to want to use new technologies. I'm delighted that Garage 56 will be occupied by DeltaWing next year too. I only hope that the latest LMP1 Acura platform gets used too as its Sebring result this year was mega. The news regarding AMR seems very vaguely positive as well, hopefully their programme will continue in some form.

[Nick3point2]

S18DMW said:

Seems like Sports car racing is having a U-turn in interest from manufacturers and fans alike at the moment

I agree, and with the exit of toyota BMW Honda etc from F1 in recent years I really hope that sport cars can actually live up to the idea of motorsport involvement driving road car development/technology.

Also, does this mean that mass market manufacturers have entirely turned their backs on F1 as a PR tool? Whilst F1 is obviously more expensive, Le Mans is certainly not cheap either, and F1 comes with a lot more exposure.

[pb63]

300bhp/ton said:

For me, this is where I'd like to Jag racing again. Not F1. Touring and GT cars is where their heritage is.

And not forgetting this beauty (that sadly never raced )

Absolutely! This is Jag's natural habitat. Not F1.

[dlockhart]

scubadude said:

That is just pure PORN

it must be cold - I can see her rivets

[slarnge]

It would be great to see a Jaguar team racing again at Lemans,Give Audi a run for their money !!

Edited by slarnge on Tuesday 19th July 15:37

[t1grm]

All these manufacturers getting involved in sports car racing is great news and I hope we are about to enter another golden era like group 6 and group C. However, I also hope we are not entering the start of another boom bust cycle.

Don’t forget the reason group C disappeared is because lots of manufacturers got involved, costs spiralled, the TV companies got interested because the racing was good, the FIA started tinkering with the rules because the TV companies got interested, the ACO and the FIA fell out over TV money and rules, the manufacturers got peed off and quit because they didn’t like the new rules and could compete in F1 for the same money, the privateers couldn’t afford to fill the gap, and we were left with no world sports car championship.

I was at the last UK round of the world sports car championship at Donninton in 1992. There were 8 cars on the grid, 3 Peugeots, 2 Toyotas and 3 privateers. Having seen 40 car grids in 87 and 88 it was a sad demise. It took sports car racing at least 10 years to recover. Let’s hope they don’t repeat the same cycle again.

[Graham]

t1grm said:

All these manufacturers getting involved in sports car racing is great news and I hope we are about to enter another golden era like group 6 and group C. However, I also hope we are not entering the start of another boom bust cycle.

Its happened since then remember the GT1's we had the listers, vipers, panoz, mac f1, then the big boys got interested Porsche, Merc, toyota, nissan we had a couple of years and then they all pulled out..

[Downton Mini]

I so hope this happens Jaguar back where they should be the F1 project was a flop GT racing and Le Mans is where there hertiage is

[the fury]

I hope they return, if only to give me a good excuse to buying a smoky old XJ40 to go down to La Sarthe in!

[chevronb37]

Graham said:

t1grm said:

All these manufacturers getting involved in sports car racing is great news and I hope we are about to enter another golden era like group 6 and group C. However, I also hope we are not entering the start of another boom bust cycle.

Its happened since then remember the GT1's we had the listers, vipers, panoz, mac f1, then the big boys got interested Porsche, Merc, toyota, nissan we had a couple of years and then they all pulled out..

I'd attribute that to the homologation loophole which Porsche drove the 911 GT1 through. I also believe that the demise of Group C might've been rather more cynical than accidental, though I am no authority on the matter.

I think endurance racing is looking good, though I hope lessons from the past have been learned concerning the new World Championship. I actually Patrick Peter is the best of the lot and with the FIA as a figurehead, the ACO the regulations and PP as a negotiator and promoter, they might do rather well. The LMS with LMP2 as the top class might take a year or two to settle down, but has potential. I am most worried about FIA GT, ALMS and GTE Am. It is apparent that Ratel's GT1 model hasn't worked and I think the loss of Maserati and Vitaphone was a serious blow to its credibility. ALMS desperately needs more top-flight prototypes - Lime Rock recently was a good two-horse race but I'm not sure it can be sustainable. GTE Am and the potential ability of some of the drivers to race at night at Le Mans surrounded by LMP1 cars I find quite frightening.

[AtWork]

internecine - good word

Would be great to see more manufacturers having a committed crack at Le Mans, even if they will all be near-silent denzels.

[S18DMW]

Nick3point2 said:

S18DMW said:

Seems like Sports car racing is having a U-turn in interest from manufacturers and fans alike at the moment

I agree, and with the exit of toyota BMW Honda etc from F1 in recent years I really hope that sport cars can actually live up to the idea of motorsport involvement driving road car development/technology.

Also, does this mean that mass market manufacturers have entirely turned their backs on F1 as a PR tool? Whilst F1 is obviously more expensive, Le Mans is certainly not cheap either, and F1 comes with a lot more exposure.

In the big scheme of things it is a much smaller cost than an F1 program, even doing a full season of sports car racing is going to be half the cost at worst. Le Mans is apparently gaining a bigger and bigger crowd each year also so it seems that the wider audience are becoming more aware of it. Just hope the ACO keep the racing fair unlike the farce of allowing the Peugeot's to block the lead Audi's this year or they'll soon see the manufacturers disappearing again.

[vintageracer01]

This sounds VERY exciting...






These cars are so much more exciting and "cooler" than BORING Formular 1.