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The Jaguar XJR sportscars were a series of race cars used by Jaguar-backed teams in both the World Sportscar Championship (WSC) Group C and the IMSA Camel GTP series between 1984 and 1993.
Starting in 1983, the project was started by an American team Group 44 Racing, headed up by owner-driver Bob Tullius, who had the backing of Jaguar to build the Fabcar designed racer known as XJR-5 in their Herndon, Virginia, US, shop and to campaign it in the IMSA Camel GTP championship. After becoming established in IMSA, Jaguar turned to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) to develop another car known as XJR-6 for the World Sportscar Championship, [1] using the same Jaguar V12 engine, and debuting halfway into the 1985 season.
Jaguar would continue to use two different types of chassis for IMSA and the WSC until 1988 when Jaguar chose to have TWR take over their team for both championships, and building an identical car for both series, known as the XJR-9.
After having used the V12 in a variety of sizes, TWR decided to try a new turbocharged 3.5L V6 for the XJR-10 (for IMSA) and the XJR-11 (for the WSC) in the 1989 season. However, the FIA announced rule changes to come into effect for the WSC that would require all teams to change to 3.5L naturally aspirated engines. TWR decided that continuing to develop their V6 in the WSC was useless, so the new XJR-12 for the WSC in 1990 was better suited to carry the old but reliable V12. The XJR-12 was short-lived, as in 1991, Jaguar decided to debut their new 3.5L naturally aspirated V8 engine by Cosworth for the XJR-14.
After having won multiple championships in the WSC, and instability due to multiple rule changes, Jaguar decided to drop out following the 1991 season and concentrate on IMSA. However, after attempting the first few races of the 1993 season, Jaguar decided to end the project altogether, marking the end of the XJR sportscars. Jaguar and TWR attempted to continue racing on with a cheaper and smaller scale project, a racing version of the XJ220 for the GT classes, but it was short-lived.
One unique XJR model was the 1990 XJR-15, which was a limited-edition road-legal supercar built by TWR from the design of the XJR-9 and featuring Jaguar's V12. Several XJR-15s were also built into racing cars for a special one-make series meant as a support race for Formula One.
The following cars were built for Jaguar's sportscar racing.
The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 recorded a top speed of 212.3 mph (341.7 km/h) during testing by Jaguar at the Nardo test track in Italy. This made it the fastest production car from 1992 to 1993. According to Jaguar, an XJ220 prototype managed a Nürburgring lap time of 7:46.36 in 1991 which was faster than any production car lap time before it.
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs.
Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.
The Jaguar XJR-9 is a sports-prototype race car built by Jaguar for both FIA Group C and IMSA Camel GTP racing, debuting at the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona.
The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 59th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 22 and 23 June 1991. It was also the fourth round of the 1991 FIA Sportscar World Championship season.
Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany.
The Jaguar XJR-14 is a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season. It was designed by Ross Brawn and John Piper, and was built and run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), on behalf of Jaguar Cars.
The Mazda MXR-01 is a Group C sports prototype that was used by Mazda's factory team Mazdaspeed in the 1992 World Sportscar Championship season. It would be the final Mazda entry in sports car racing since the inception of its Le Mans project in 1983. It was based on the Jaguar XJR-14.
Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with Raymond Bellm in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986. They competed in the World Sportscar Championship in Europe as well as the IMSA GT Championship in North America, at times partnering with major manufacturers such as General Motors and Honda as well as race engine manufacturer Comptech.
The Porsche WSC-95 was a Le Mans Prototype originally built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. It was modified by Porsche from the original Group C Jaguar XJR-14 from which it derived, and run by Joest Racing. Originally intended to race in the IMSA World Sportscar Championship, the WSC-95 saw very little race action even though it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1996 and 1997 without being acknowledged as a factory supported project. It was later upgraded to the Porsche LMP1-98 before being retired. Only two cars were ever built.
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
The Jaguar XJR-11 was a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1989 World Sports Prototype Championship, while its sister car the XJR-10 was introduced to compete in IMSA series races.
The Chevrolet Corvette GTP was an American Grand Touring Prototype-class sports prototype racing car which successfully participated in the IMSA Camel GT from 1984 until 1989. The car was professionally fielded in competition as General Motors' Chevrolet Corvette C4 official factory team effort in the IMSA GTP class.
The Nissan P35 was a planned Group C car built by Nissan Motors for competition in the World Sportscar Championship. Developed by Nissan Performance Technology Inc. (NPTI), which had formerly raced under the name Electramotive in the United States, the cars were intended to be completed by the middle of 1992, with competition starting in 1993. However economic troubles for Nissan led to the cancellation of the project soon after testing of the first cars had begun, meaning that the P35s never raced.
The Jaguar XJR-12 is a sports-prototype race car built by the Jaguar Cars-backed Tom Walkinshaw Racing team for both Group C and IMSA Camel GTP. The XJR-12 is famous for winning the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The XJR-8 was a race car built by Jaguar for campaigning in the World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of Group C. It was used during the 1987 season.
The Jaguar XJR-6 is a Group C sports prototype race car, designed, developed and built by TWR, with the aim of competing, from 1985, in the World Sportscar Championship. A total of six Jaguar XJR-6s were built and they contested in the World Sportscar Championship until 1986, before Jaguar replaced them with the Jaguar XJR-8.
The Eagle MkIII is a sports prototype racing car built by All American Racers in 1991 to IMSA GTP specifications. Powered by a turbocharged Toyota inline-4 engine, the car was campaigned in the IMSA Camel GT series by Dan Gurney's Toyota-sponsored AAR team from 1991 through to the end of 1993. The Eagle MkIII won 21 out of the 27 races in which it was entered and is considered one of the most successful and technologically advanced designs of the IMSA GTP era — "a car that proved so overwhelmingly dominant that the class for which it was created has now been assigned to history", according to Racer magazine.
The Jaguar XJR-10 is an IMSA GTP sports prototype race car, designed, developed, and built by TWR for Jaguar, with the aim of competing, from 1989, in the IMSA GT Championship. Jaguar XJR-10s competed until 1991, before Jaguar replaced it with the Jaguar XJR-16. The car debuted a new 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 engine, which replaced the previous V12, and was later fitted to the Jaguar XJ220 as well.
The Jaguar XJR-17 was an IMSA Lights racing car, built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Rebuilt from a Jaguar XJR-16 for the IMSA Camel Lights, the XJR-17 never competed in the event due to funding issues and has since only been used in a few minor British events and historic races. It used a modified version of the XJR-16's 3.5-litre V6 engine, stripped of the twin-turbochargers and producing a claimed output of 450 hp, whilst its bodywork was cobbled together using various parts from older Jaguar XJR Sportscars.