ALMS: Debuts of the Jaguar XKR GT2 race car

From RSR

In preparation for a full championship effort in 2010, RSR has entered the Jaguar XKR GT2 in the American Le Mans Series' famed event the Petit Le Mans with the intention to introduce the car and utilize the track time for testing and development.

The Jaguar brand is launched into what everyone considers the deepest GT2 class in the history of the ALMS and will have to face off against the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Viper, and Ford.

From a production car, the Jaguar XKR makes an excellent racecar. "The Jaguar XKR is exceptionally strong and rigid, and the construction method is in advance of the conventional steel stamping that we see in cars today," explained Paul Gentilozzi, RSR team owner.


"That allows RSR to build a lighter, stronger, stiffer racecar. Also, the basic aerodynamic design of the XKR has a low drag coefficient and more than sufficient downforce."

The GT2 class features production-based cars modified as allowed by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) rules.

"There are very specific limitations. We use what we call in the industry, the Body-In-White. That is the basic skeletal structure, the sub-frames and frames from the original production car. We started our GT2 car with a real Jaguar XKR, this is not a panel built or fabricated car. We are using all of the aluminium skeletal structure of the car, the production doors, roof and deck lid.

The body work features a design that is based on the Jaguar XKR and was completed in the Jaguar Advance Design Studio headed by chief designer Ian Callum. The body has undergone intensive computational fluid dynamics work; know as CFD, by the Jaguar aerodynamics department.

Information from the CFD was then incorporated into the finished bodywork, which was made in clay at the RSR facility. Over 1100 man-hours were spent during the clay process. The carbon fiber composite bodywork was moulded and produced by a local company in Michigan and conforms to the ACO guidelines.

RSR is working very closely with Bosch Motorsport to integrate their technologies for engine control and chassis data acquisition. The car will be equipped with a Bosch Motorsport ECU and data logger with color display, as well as Bosch spark plugs.

Brembo six piston front calipers on 380 mm discs with four piston rear calipers on 350 mm discs have been installed and actuated by a Tilton floating master cylinder pedal assembly. A 5.5-inch Tilton metallic clutch will allow power to flow from the modified Jaguar AJ133 engine to a Hewland CST Transaxle.