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| The '''Jaguar XJR-14''' |
The '''Jaguar XJR-14''' was a ] and later ] GTP ] racing car introduced for the ]. It was a replacement for the ]. | ||
| Designed by ] |
Designed by ] and built by ] (TWR). Brawn was able to apply designing elements from ]. In the past, TWR's Jaguars had been designed under the direction of ], while Brawn worked with a design staff. The XJR-14 was one of the first Group C cars to truly take advantage of a clean sheet of paper approach under the new ] 3.5L regulations, meaning it was not an evolution of the XJR-12 design, but instead a true replacement. To fit with the new 3.5L regulations, Jaguar was forced to replace their large displacement V12 with a smaller V8. Jaguar turned to ] to built the new engine, known as HB. | ||
| In the ], the XJR-14 had a hard fight with the new and quickly improving ] squad, but was able to gain three wins on the season, securing a world championship. However, at the ], Jaguar initially entered two XJR-14s but later decided that the XJR-14 would not be capable of finishing the distance due to unknowns in the development of the Cosworth HB. Jaguar instead decided to enter three older ]s entered in the C2 class. Although the XJR-12s did not manage to win, Jaguar's decision not to run the fresh XJR-14 was vindicated by the fact that ] and ]-] had none of their newer cars finish. | |||
| After 1991, Jaguar decided not to continue in Group C, believing that they had spent enough time in ] and the instability of rules recently in the ]. Jaguar decided to take the XJR-14 to the United States for the ] Camel GTP championship. However, without a major upgrade, the XJR-14 was unable to beat the latest challengers from ] and ], forced to finish third in the championship with only two victories. Jaguar had to go through three chassis in the series after two, #591 and #791, were written off in seperate accidents. | |||
| Three XJR-14 chassis were built, chassis #591, 691, and 791. Apart from their career in World Sportscars, chassis 591 and 791 also raced in the ] GTP series, and were heavily damaged in accidents in ] and ] during the 1992 season. Both were essentially written off and turned into show cars, before being sold to private collectors. Chassis 691 was converted into a TWR-Porsche WSC by ] and won the ] in ] and ]. TWR manufacturerd an additional XJR-14 monocoque for the TWR-Porsche project though this chassis took on a Porsche serial number from the start. Chassis 691 resides in the Joest museum in its final double Le Mans winning form of TWR-Porshe WSC. | |||
| Meanwhile, TWR had reached an agreement to supply more XJR-14 chassis to ], minus the Cosworth V8s, for Mazda to be able to continue in the ]. Mazda would be rebadge the XJR-14s at ]s. These cars also were not very capable of competing with the major manufacturer teams, scoring no wins and finishing third in the championship before the ] was cancelled. | |||
| The Mazda MXR-01 has direct lineage to the XJR-14 and has been described as a "productionized" XJR-14, being built to a budget. It is believed that four or five chassis were manufactured. | |||
| Several years later, TWR would resurrect XJR-14 chassis #691, which had competed in IMSA Camel GTP, for the development of a new prototype for ]. The car would be renamed the TWR WSC95, and its most significant feature was that it had it's roof removed to turn the car into an open cockpit prototype. The WSC95 would carry a Porsche 3.0L turbocharged Flat-6. After chassis #691 was modified, TWR built second WSC95 from scratch. In both the ] and ], the TWR-Porsches was able to take the overall win. Former XJR-14 chassis #691 would eventually end up in the ] museum, the team which took the WSC95 to victory in both years. | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 03:36, 10 December 2006
The Jaguar XJR-14 was a Group C and later IMSA GTP Sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season. It was a replacement for the Jaguar XJR-12.
Designed by Ross Brawn and built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). Brawn was able to apply designing elements from Formula One. In the past, TWR's Jaguars had been designed under the direction of Tony Southgate, while Brawn worked with a design staff. The XJR-14 was one of the first Group C cars to truly take advantage of a clean sheet of paper approach under the new FIA 3.5L regulations, meaning it was not an evolution of the XJR-12 design, but instead a true replacement. To fit with the new 3.5L regulations, Jaguar was forced to replace their large displacement V12 with a smaller V8. Jaguar turned to Cosworth to built the new engine, known as HB.
In the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, the XJR-14 had a hard fight with the new and quickly improving Peugeot squad, but was able to gain three wins on the season, securing a world championship. However, at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jaguar initially entered two XJR-14s but later decided that the XJR-14 would not be capable of finishing the distance due to unknowns in the development of the Cosworth HB. Jaguar instead decided to enter three older XJR-12s entered in the C2 class. Although the XJR-12s did not manage to win, Jaguar's decision not to run the fresh XJR-14 was vindicated by the fact that Peugeot and Sauber-Mercedes had none of their newer cars finish.
After 1991, Jaguar decided not to continue in Group C, believing that they had spent enough time in Group C and the instability of rules recently in the World Sportscar Championship. Jaguar decided to take the XJR-14 to the United States for the IMSA Camel GTP championship. However, without a major upgrade, the XJR-14 was unable to beat the latest challengers from Toyota and Nissan, forced to finish third in the championship with only two victories. Jaguar had to go through three chassis in the series after two, #591 and #791, were written off in seperate accidents.
Meanwhile, TWR had reached an agreement to supply more XJR-14 chassis to Mazda, minus the Cosworth V8s, for Mazda to be able to continue in the World Sportscar Championship. Mazda would be rebadge the XJR-14s at MXR-01s. These cars also were not very capable of competing with the major manufacturer teams, scoring no wins and finishing third in the championship before the World Sportscar Championship was cancelled.
Several years later, TWR would resurrect XJR-14 chassis #691, which had competed in IMSA Camel GTP, for the development of a new prototype for Porsche. The car would be renamed the TWR WSC95, and its most significant feature was that it had it's roof removed to turn the car into an open cockpit prototype. The WSC95 would carry a Porsche 3.0L turbocharged Flat-6. After chassis #691 was modified, TWR built second WSC95 from scratch. In both the 1997 and 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, the TWR-Porsches was able to take the overall win. Former XJR-14 chassis #691 would eventually end up in the Joest museum, the team which took the WSC95 to victory in both years.