JaguarRSR RECOVERS FROM FIRST LAP MISHAP TO TAKE THE CHECKERED IN UTAH
TOOELE, Utah (July 11, 2010) - After starting 11th on the GT grid for today's Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, the JaguarRSR team recuperates from a first lap incident to take the #75 JaguarRSR XKR GT to the finish line.
"We had high hopes," said Paul Gentilozzi, JaguarRSR Principal Partner. "One of the competitors in front of us got a little boxed up, short braked Ryan (Dalziel) and he got into the back of him. That damage caused us to have to come to the garage and repair the wiring harness on the front of the car and the structural damage. Unfortunately it took about an hour out of our race, but the crew worked very hard and got us back out there. We used the remainder of our time on track as a test session and ran the car to the end. We are pleased again that the car was running well, but we hate having our expectations dashed in the first lap of the race. That is the unfortunate thing of racing."
Dalziel added, "I feel pretty bad, there was just a big stack up at the start and I really had no where to go. Once we got the car repaired and back out there, it was encouraging that the Jaguar XKR GT ran from then on pretty flawless and our race pace wasn't bad."
On Lap 43 of the 91 laps race, the car was called back into the pits for tires, fuel, data checks and a driver change. Marc Goossens took over and drove for the remaining duration. He stay clean, got a good read on the car, and took it to the checkered flag finishing 13th in class.
"The car felt pretty stable, consistent all the way through," said Goossens. "We tired a different set of Yokohama tires at the end which, because they were new, gave me good grip towards the end of the race. In general the XKR was running good mechanically. I don't think our speed is too bad and chassis wise we are handling well. We have just small things that need to be better. With the car running strong in the race once we got back out there, we logged some good miles which gives us something to work with to improve and prepare for Lime Rock."
The JaguarRSR XKR GT recorded its best race lap time of 1:53.195 and completed 57 laps around the 3.048-mile permanent road course at Miller Motorsports Park.
The team has a short break before returning to ALMS competition in two weeks for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix in Lakeville, Connecticut, July 23 - 24.
For images of the JaguarRSR XKR GT, please go to: http://www.media.jaguarrsr.co.uk/.
For more information, please go to: www.RSRJaguar.com.