Jaguar seeks GT3 partners

Jaguar seeks GT3 partners

Jaguar is gearing up for a return to sports car racing with a car that could be built by Williams.

The British manufacturer is evaluating an entry into the GT3 category with the new F-type, which was unveiled at September’s Paris motor show. It has already started a tender process to find a partner to develop and build the car and Williams is known to be in the running.

Jaguar has yet to comment on its plans without denying that it is evaluating a GT3 version of the F-type.

“Jaguar doesn’t have a motor sport programme,” said a spokeswoman. “If this changes, we will communicate our plans accordingly. We cannot comment on speculation or rumour.”

Williams, whose last venture into sports car racing resulted in the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours-winning BMW V12 LMR, already has links with Jaguar. Its advanced engineering arm is jointly developing the four-cylinder petrol-electric Jaguar C-X75.

Jaguar is understood to have received various bids to mastermind the project. A meeting at the end of September whittled this down to a final two: Williams and Ray Mallock’s RML.

It is unclear whether Jaguar would use the supercharged V6 version of the F-type for racing or wait for a forthcoming V8powered car. It is unlikely to hit the track before 2014.

Jaguar previously had an involvement in GT3 with the late Richard Lloyd’s Apex Motorsport squad which developed the XKR, but the project lost momentum in the wake of Lloyd’s death in a plane crash in 2008.