Countdown to Sebring

 Sebring holds a special place for Jaguar. Fifty‑five years ago this month, a D‑TYPE piloted by Britain's Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb, took the checkered flag to win the grueling 12 Hours of Sebring. It was Jaguar's first major motorsports victory in North America.

So we're excited that on March 20, Jaguar will be back at the famous Florida racetrack. A stunning green and black JaguarRSR XKR will line up on the grid to campaign in the hard‑fought GT2 class for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.

For Paul Gentilozzi, principal partner and hard‑charging lead driver with JaguarRSR, the Sebring race will mark the start of the team's 2010 American Le Mans Series season ‑ a season that will include a landmark entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Paul has a lot of history at Sebring. He took a GTS class win in the 1992 12‑hour, and raced from overall pole position in 1994. In all, he's competed there something like a dozen times.

To mark our return, Jaguar has signed on to be the Official Car of Sebring. It means that a 510‑horsepower 2010 supercharged XKR will serve as pace car for the race. And in the paddock, we'll have a collection of classic Jaguar race cars from the past, including the 1988 Le Mans‑winning XJR‑9, the mid‑engined XJ13, and the stunning 1952 C‑TYPE raced by the legendary Phil Hill.

Also expect to see the parking lots full of Jaguars old and new as Jaguar car club members and Jaguar enthusiasts from around Florida come to watch our return to top flight sports car racing.

And as part our partnership with the racetrack, Sebring's Pit Tower has been named the 'Jaguar Tower.' For anyone who attended the Sebring races in the Fifties and Sixties, they'll remember that the original pit structure was also named 'Jaguar Tower.'

Sportscar racing is in Jaguar's blood. It's been that way since the earliest days of the company; since our then‑new C‑TYPE went to Le Mans in 1951 and won. For me, I can't think of a better way to kick off Jaguar's 75th anniversary year than to have a JaguarRSR XKR ‑ naturally with the #75 on its doors ‑ as part of the Sebring starting grid on March 20.

We hope you'll be there. It's going to be a great weekend.

By Richard Beattie, Jaguar North America Executive Vice President for Marketing and Sales