JaguarRSR Anticipating Strong Second Year

Team set to test upgrades and improvements in Jaguar XKR GT

The approach of a second full season in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is bringing even more optimism at JaguarRSR. Given the dramatic second-year progress many programs experience – think BMW’s M3 GT last year and Ferrari’s F430 GT in 2007 as examples – technical director John Gentilozzi is encouraged by the prospects of what 2011 may hold for the Jaguar XKR GT.

“We do try to benchmark our program against the progress made by other manufacturers in their second year, but we know that every opportunity and situation is unique,” he said. “Certainly we have come of age during the resurgence of the GT category – especially in the American Le Mans Series – and we welcome the challenge of facing the best manufacturers in the world at every race on the calendar. Our team has a great attitude and we are up for the challenge as we enter the 2011 season.”

Gentilozzi and JaguarRSR say they targeted numerous areas for development in the offseason. “From powertrain to aerodynamics and electronics, we have identified a number of focus areas and have been working steadily through the winter to improve them,” he added. “Many of these ideas have been prepared to debut at the test days, and some will be in place for the test days prior to the race.”

Yes, that was Gentliozzi confirming that the team will be at the annual Sebring Winter Test in two weeks.

“We felt that we made progress in a lot of areas during 2010,” he said. “Sometimes this improvement was on track and other times it was in our systems, analysis methods or procedures. How the team works off track and how the engineers manage the race is something that can only be tested during a race weekend. Building on that for 2011, we have some exciting new team members both in the car and behind the wall that we look forward to introducing in the coming days.

General admission tickets to the Winter Test are $10 per day with no paddock admission or overnight camping.

The first race for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 19. The race, set for 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 19, will be shown in its live and in its entirety on ESPN3.com and americanlemans.com. ABC will provide coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 20. Visit the American Le Mans Series’ schedule page for information on tickets and area accommodations.

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