Day Two at Road America

In the words of Sir Jackie Stewart, it was "a great day for motor racing", especially if you were racing a Jaguar E‑Type.

After the morning warm‑up sessions, the program of 12 separate featured races began at 10:00 a.m. with the temperature and high humidity making it feel like it was 104 degrees. The first race to roll off was the GT and Production Car group for cars up to 1972, a mixture of cars from England, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Japan.

"That is the beauty and the allure that is Vintage racing," according to Brian Redman, whose resume includes a 16 out of 17 win record in an E‑Type and who has been hosting the Road America event since the early 1990's. "In one Vintage racing weekend, you see everything from humble Minis to Formula One cars from the ‘Golden Era' to some of the fastest Jaguar E‑Type cars I have ever seen. It is really quite amazing."

An added treat for several lucky spectators, who were drawn by lot, were "hot laps" in either a 2011 Jaguar XJ and a Jaguar XKR, driven by Jaguar R Performance Academy instructors, including Le Mans winner and former IMSA GTP champion Davy Jones. The twin Liquid Silver Metallic Jaguar cars headed out between every session to show the lucky passengers the fast line around Road America.

At 2:00 p.m., 10 E‑Type cars rolled down pit lane for the very first race of the Jaguar North American Challenge. The field, which consisted of Series I, Series II and Series III Jaguar E‑Type cars, growled up the front strait where B. J. Colaric, General Manager, Sales Operations for Jaguar Cars North America, threw the green and the race was on.

Immediately, Farrell Preston in his 1964 E‑Type Convertible, and Larry Ligas in his similar 1968 E‑Type began what one observer called "one heck of a race."

Almost immediately, a group of three cars drew slightly away from the pack when Preston and Ligas were joined by the 1971 Series III V‑12 E‑Type of Max Heilman. With 4.048 miles of race track, there was plenty of time and room for the lead group to mix it up, and while there was separation between the front runners and the rest of the field, the racing in mid‑pack was tough, but clean.

During the course of the six‑lap race, the lead changed nine times, sometimes more than once a lap. Each corner found the then leader under pressure from both the second and third place cars. After four laps, the Max Heilman's Series III car fell slightly off the pace, holding on to a relatively comfortable third.

The crowd could sense that the last lap, perhaps even the last corner, would hold the key to who won the inaugural round of the Jaguar North American Challenge.

The crowd proved to be right. As the two cars came around the last turn to head on to the long front straight, Ligas passed Preston and then the two hammered their way up the straight toward the checkered flag. One of the characteristics of Road America's front straight is that it runs uphill before leveling off before diving in to turn one. After the cars go through the last turn, they disappear for a few seconds before they reappear, thirty yards before the start/finish line.

When they re‑appeared, Preston had out‑dragged Ligas and took the lead, finishing an incredible .04 of a second ahead as they crossed the start/finish line virtually side by side.

Put it in the book ‑ the first race of the Jaguar North American Challenge was a "real barn‑burner", as they say in rural Wisconsin. The series has its' first winner and it's now on to Laguna Seca for the next race, part of the Monterey Motorsports Reunion on August 19th to the 21st.

Top 10 Finishers

All photos by Pete Klinger