Fat Cat: Rocketsports Racing Jaguar XKR

For the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) this summer, Michigan-based Rocketsports Racing (RSR) plans to field a new Jaguar XKR racer in partnership with the famed British marque. At the heart of the project is a parallel engine development process for the new AJ-133 direct injected 5.0L normally aspirated engine. In order to be race-ready it not only had to be tuned to work with mandated air restrictors but of course go the 24 hour distance. The RSR XKR is built on the same aluminum chassis as the production model, boosted by special rivets and high strength adhesives.

Testing and further development is slated to begin next month; RSR plans to produce at least three of the XKRs this year. Pushing Jags to the limit is nothing new for these guys; their modified XF-R hit a top speed of 363 km/h during a secret speed trial at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah late last year. The plan is to perfect the XKR in time for the classic 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2010, at which time a select group of customers will also be able to get their hands on one. You will definitely want to consider a less irritating paint scheme though.

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Tags: Jaguar, Le Mans, Rocketsports Racing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 8:29 am and is filed under Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.