◾The team’s Cooper T33 completes the one-two finish, while its Lightweight E-Type finished in the top 10 overall◾Technical problems affect the JD Classics Lister Costin, forcing it to drop back from fifth place in a field of much more powerful cars
JD Classics’ unstoppable ex-Fangio C-Type took home a class win at Le Mans Legend this year, followed swiftly by the team’s Jaguar T33 in second place. Taking its 22nd award in 25 races, the team’s C-Type is unrivalled in historic racing events today.
Le Mans Legend organisers this year broadened the event’s eligibility criteria, allowing high-powered Ford GT40s and Cobras to compete. Nevertheless, JD Classics’ entries each put in impressive qualifying performances, with the Costin Lister, driven by JD Classics’ own racing driver Chris Ward sitting 8th in a field of 62.
Not far behind was the team’s Lightweight E-Type driven by Steve Soper, which qualified in 12th place, followed by the ex-Fangio C-Type with John Young at the wheel and the Cooper T33 driven by JD Classics’ Managing Director Derek Hood. Wil Arif in the team’s XK120 rounded out a strong qualifying performance.
Following Thursday’s qualifying, the JD Classics Competition Department set about preparing all of its cars for the race, which kicked off on Saturday morning. Three GT40s led the pack as the race got underway with a rolling start, and Chris Ward drove the Lister Costin brilliantly up to fifth place, despite being down on power compared with the cars ahead.
An issue with the car saw the Lister Costin fall back down the field while the other JD Classics’ entries battled hard in the top half of a competitive pack. After four laps, JD Classics had performed the mandatory minute-long pit stop on all their entries, leaving them to race to the finish line.
It was the Lightweight E-Type that came home first for JD Classics, rounding out a top 10 that included seven of the much more powerful GT40s and Cobras.
The ex-Fangio C-Type topped its class with the Cooper T33 coming in just behind, giving JD Classics an incredible one-two finish in the 1949-1954 class. It’s the latest in a series of impressive finishes for JD Classics this year, including a win for its 1974 Ford Cologne Capri at Spa Classic.
JD Classics Managing Director Derek Hood said: “This year’s Le Mans Legend field was undoubtedly the toughest it’s ever been, so our C-Type and Cooper T33 completing a class one-two finish is something we’re extremely proud of. It also cements our ex-Fangio C-Type as the most successful of its kind in historic racing today – and that’s down to the world-class engineers we’ve got in our Competition Department.”
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