Jaguar to star in '09 Classic

Jaguar will take centre stage at the 2009 Silverstone Classic when the event will mark the 60th anniversary of the first win for the XK120. It was in 1949 that the marque entered events with the new XK120 and the car’s first race at Silverstone brought a debut victory.

Displays, demonstrations and races dedicated to Jaguars are all in the early stages of planning for the event, which will again run in the last weekend of July for three days from July 24-26.

Other changes to the event will include a shuffle of race categories, and the organisers intend to run a new race for the Super Touring cars of the mid-90s, which will be for the David Leslie Memorial Trophy.

“We want to capture the great days of the BTCC and we will be targeting at least 30 cars to take part, with as many original drivers as possible,” said event director Roger Etcell from Motion Works.

On the back of the success of the 2008 event, which drew 57,000 visitors across three days, Etcell is aiming at a total crowd of at least 65,000 in ’09. More live music and air displays will feature alongside a full weekend of racing.