Jaguar World Magazine Le Mans Special July 2013 Back Issue

At the launch of the F-TYPE a couple of months ago, Adrian
Hallmark, Jaguar’s global brand director said it was inconceivable for Jaguar not to build a sports car. Due to the company’s long heritage in two-seaters, he had a point. But on that basis, Jaguar should also be involved in racing: motorsport fi gured strongly in Jaguar’s history,
giving it an opportunity to demonstrate the speed and reliability of its products. No event does this more than the 24 Heures du Mans, as our series of features celebrating three of Jaguar’s key moments at the race illustrates (see p.47).
Jaguar’s reputation for building fast and class leading cars was first shown on an international level in the 1950s when it won the French race fi ve times (1951, 1953, 1955-57), a series of victories that have become part of racing folklore. They (plus two further wins in 1988 and 1990, plus a moral class victory in ‘93) still form part of Jaguar’s image and even today the company’s press material will often mention those seven successes. While
they’re something any company should remain proud of, it’s
time for Jaguar of today to add to that tally and create legends of its own. A semi-works Le Mans attempt in 2010 with the RSR team that fi elded a single XKR didn’t add much to Jaguar’s racing pedigree. Neither did the Formula One effort
(2000-2004) that never really seemed to fi t Jaguar’s image anyway.
But since it now has the car to do it with, what the company needs is a
proper return to endurance racing and therefore a return to Le Mans.
Who wouldn’t be excited by the prospect of a British Racing Green
F-TYPE powering down the Mulsanne Straight or overtaking a rival
Porsche 911 at the Dunlop Curves?
With Jaguar’s fortunes now back on track, isn’t it time its cars were too?
@Paul_W_Walton, Editor