We had no complaints when we got Jaguar’s new V8 on the track, so it’s no surprise a full-on racecar is making its debut. Rocketsports Racing (RSR) revealed the XKR GT2 racing car that will compete in the American Le Mans Series. The 2010 XKR GT2 racecar was designed as a joint effort between the American racing team RSR and Jaguar’s Advance Design Studio, which is headed by the automaker’s chief designer Ian Callum. The experience of the veteran racer and Jaguar’s main body man has resulted in over 1,100 man hours molding clay and laying carbon fiber to create a shape that is fast and manages to maintain the feel of the factory vehicle.
This Jag will take on cars such as the Corvette C6R GT2 and Aston Martin Vantage GT2. This means although RSR will be using the naturally aspirated version of the 5.0-liter V8, the engine will likely be modified to make more than the 385 hp it generates in cars like the 2010 XK.
The race car began its life as a brand new Jaguar XK-R, and despite being a fully built race car maintains much of the original car’s aluminum body panels; like the roof, doors and deck lid. Intensive computational fluid dynamics analysis by the automaker’s aerodynamics department has led to some interesting body work, like the trailing GT style rear wing, redesigned front bumper and extremely wide front fenders. The new 2010 XKR GT2 racecar is a vehicle that both Gentilozzi and Jaguar feel will become one of the most competitive Jaguar racing cars to compete in one of the most competitive ALMS GT2 fields in a long time.
The XKR GT2 will not be ready for the track until the summer of 2009 and will only run a partial season. So even if it is a contender this year, this is just a practice run for 2010.
2010 Racing Debut: The American Le Mans Series racing team RSR, headed up by long time Jaguar privateer racer Paul Gentilozzi has finished working on the next generation XK-R racing car in time to compete at the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans in Braselton, Georgia. When the green flag drops at 11:15 AM on September 26, 2010, the hills surrounding Road Atlanta will roar with the sounds of fire breathing race cars, but there will also be a new voice in the crowd, the XKR GT2 car with a trio of seasoned racers behind the wheel; the American Scott Pruett, the Belgian Marc Goossen and RSR team owner Paul Gentilozzi. If anyone can handle pulling a double duty like this one, Gentilozzi can.
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