It may have taken longer than planned but Jaguar's much anticipated XKR GT3 car has made its racing debut, albeit not in the
FIA GT Championship, but instead in the Britcar 24 Hours.
The Apex Motorsport run car has been delayed on numerous occasions this season, but finally managed to make it out in track at
Silverstone for the gruelling EERC-organised event that attracted entries of more than 60 different power cars.
Driven by a team made up of owner Stuart Scott, Chris Ryan, Mike Neuhoff and Andrew Frankel, only a precautionary gearbox change stymied their efforts through the event, leaving them to finish 34th overall and sixth in class.
“We approached this weekend very much as an extended test session,” said Apex Team Principal Richard Lloyd. “That the car did so well, and finished the race is a real testament to Stuart's determination and the hard work put in by everyone involved.
“Before this weekend's race, the car had only ever run for an hour continuously,” continued Lloyd. “We'd done a great deal of mileage in testing but, by its very nature, test days are very much stop-start affairs in the pursuit of technical progress and development. This was the first time the car has run beyond a full tank of fuel and all the drivers did an excellent job.
“We had a few small technical issues, including a noise/exhaust issue which is easily fixed after the event, a couple of punctures and a suspected gearbox problem. We changed the box, entering a bit of uncharted territory, and I'm very happy that we were able to then continue to the end without any major problems.”
