Buoyed by their increasing competitiveness – scoring two consecutive top-ten results in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) – JaguarRSR are optimistic that this weekend's round at Road America could see another step forward for their program.
The team, headed by successful racer Paul Gentilozzi, has made further developments to their Jaguar XKR GT car and the team promise they have prepared a “refined strategy” for the two-hour, 45 minute race in Wisconsin.
The Elkhart Lake Track is one of only two recognised historical racing landmarks in America and the track has a fearsome reputation with long straights (cars reaching 175 mph on the start/finish straight) and sweeping corners, including the fearsome Kink on the track's back straight which leads to Canada Corner – another of the instantly recognisable turns on the 4.05 mile track.
The no.75 car will be driven by Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens, the experienced Belgian incredibly making his first ever start at Road America.
“The thing that I keep hearing about Road America is that it is going to be a track that I really like. People that I have worked with before have told me that “it is a typical track for you,” Goossens recalls. “And I have to agree, as I have done my homework in preparation by viewing some on-board camera footage from the past from different cars.”
“It looks like a pretty fast track with long straightaways, and not only that, but the connection between two straightaways can be very important. So to keep momentum going, it looks like there’s a couple of challenging corners there and I can’t wait to get out there and do some laps around it.”
Scotsman Dalziel, however, has several previous experiences of the track to call on. He raced in the Atlantics championship from 2002-2004, including a win in 2004 in a spare car after he crashed heavily at Canada Corner in practice. In 2005 he had graduated to the ALMS before making his last appearance at the track to date in 2007 – the final year of the Champ Car World Series.
“I have always had great races at Road America and I am really looking forward to going back in the Jaguar,” said Dalziel. “Road America fans are huge car fanatics and I know Jaguar has a strong following in that part of the country. I am excited to get back behind the wheel now that our reliability is looking better. I watched the race weekend at Mid-Ohio from the internet and I was sad not to be a part of another top-ten finish. Hopefully, Marc and I can continue the string of results.”
