Jaguar XKR GT2

Jaguar are getting closer to compete in the expensive GT2-class. This is their racingcar for the american series. This is what the pressrelease tells us:

BRASELTON, GA (September 24, 2009) – In preparation for a full championship effort in 2010, RSR has entered the Jaguar XKR GT2 in the American Le Mans Series’ famed event the Petit Le Mans with the intention to introduce the car and utilize the track time for testing and development. The Jaguar brand is launched into what everyone considers the deepest GT2 class in the history of the ALMS and will have to face off against the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Viper, and Ford.



The GT2 class features production-based cars modified as allowed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) rules. “There are very specific limitations. We use what we call in the industry, the Body-In-White. That is the basic skeletal structure, the sub-frames and frames from the original production car. We started our GT2 car with a real Jaguar XKR, this is not a panel built or fabricated car. We are using all of the aluminum skeletal structure of the car, the production doors, roof and deck lid.”

The body work features a design that is based on the Jaguar XKR and was completed in the Jaguar Advance Design Studio headed by chief designer Ian Callum. The body has undergone intensive computational fluid dynamics work, know as CFD, by the Jaguar aerodynamics department. Information from the CFD was then incorporated into the finished body work which was made in clay at the RSR facility. Over 1100 man hours were spent during the clay process. The carbon fiber composite body work was molded and produced by a local company in Michigan and conforms to the ACO guidelines.



RSR is working very closely with Bosch Motorsport to integrate their technologies for engine control and chassis data acquisition. The car will be equipped with a Bosch Motorsport ECU and data logger with color display, as well as Bosch spark plugs.Brembo six piston front calipers on 380 mm discs with four piston rear calipers on 350 mm discs have been installed and actuated by a Tilton floating master cylinder pedal assembly. A 5.5 inch Tilton metallic clutch will allow power to flow from the modified Jaguar AJ133 engine to a Hewland CST Transaxle.

A five time Trans-Am Series Champion, Gentilozzi will wear multiple hats for the team, as not only the owner but also one of the three drivers designated to run at the Petit Le Mans. He will be joined with sports car veterans American Scott Pruett and Belgian Marc Goossens. The Jaguar XKR GT2 will make its debut in the Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. The 1,000-mile, 10-hour spectacle is scheduled to start 11:15 a.m. EDT on September 26. Live coverage can be seen on SPEED beginning at 11:00 a.m.