It wasn’t planned that a 24-hour race should be the Jaguar XKR GT3’s first racing appearance of 2007, but that is indeed what happened this past weekend and the car proved itself to be a consistent and worthwhile competitor.  It completed 2,226 kilometres of running, and was a regular feature in the top 20 during the first half of the race before a precautionary gearbox change dropped it a little further back in the final classification.  It eventually finished 34th overall and 6th in the GT3 class.

After a late decision to enter the Britcar 24 race at Silverstone by Apex Motorsport’s key supporter and first XKR GT3 owner, Stuart Scott, plans and preparations were hastily put in hand.  The car was one of 60 entries in the EERC-organised event, with a total of 234 drivers being registered.

A driving team of Scott, his regular team mate Chris Ryan, 2001 Volkswagen Racing Cup Champion Mike Neuhoff and Motorsport magazine editor/Sunday Times journalist, Andrew Frankel was assembled and all performed extremely well amongst the crowded and competitive grid.  

“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.”

Stuart Scott added, “It was great fun. Before this weekend, I’m sure there were people out there who either didn’t think the car existed, or that it could only run for a short time so it was great to compete and to finish, no matter how many laps behind we were. I felt honoured to be part of the whole Apex team, seeing how they work together and bond over a race period. Chris and I had plenty of time behind the wheel, and Andrew and Mike were both great, the whole thing was absolutely fantastic.  It’s a proper race car now; it’s got some battle scars!  We had a great weekend and it gave us a lot of optimism for the future.  We proved so much, where else could you get that amount of time in the car?”