After a five year hiatus from motorsport, Jaguar returns to the greatest endurance event of them all, as the British firm prepares for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by entering an XKR GT2 run by JaguarRSR in the American Le Mans Series this year.
With 2010 marking 75 years of the Jaguar name, the firm hopes to add to the seven victories to its name at the 24 Heures du Mans between 1951 and 1990 - two with the C-Type (1951; 1953), three consecutive D-Type victories (1955;1956;1957), with the XJR-9LM in 1988 and with the XJR-12 in 1990.
"We are delighted the ACO has granted us entry in the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans. It is a race that is held dearly in the hearts of motorsport fans across the world and for Jaguar to be racing again is something special," commented Paul Gentilozzi, Principle Partner, JaguarRSR.
"We are fortunate to bring an international line up of the world's finest driving talent including Scott Pruett (NASCAR, Grand-Am, Trans-Am, and Champ Cars) and Marc Goossens (Le Mans veteran) as our drivers for this race," Gentilozzi, who will drive the XKR GT2 in the 2010 American Le Mans Series, added.
With Jaguar's recent introductions, the XF, all-new XJ and new XK, Jaguar is confident that it has sufficient technology, design and expertise from the "R" performance division to prove the prowess of the XKR at Le Mans.
"Motorsport has always been important to the Jaguar brand. Our domination of Le Mans in the 1950s was a foundation on which the company was developed. It was twenty years ago that Jaguar last won Le Mans with a TWR Jaguar Sport entry driven by John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle. Returning to Le Mans will reignite excitement for the marque across the globe, all the more poignant in our 75th year," said C.J. O'Donnell, global marketing director of Jaguar Cars,
very excited by this news!can't wait for the series to start
