Sad news reached us is this morning of the passing of racing icon Tom Walkinshaw at the young age of just 64. He had been involved in motorsport in many capacities for the better part of four decades. His most recent exploits included ownership of Holden's tuning HSV but he is best known for successfully running Jaguar's works touring and sports car team. To honour his legacy we have highlighted the first Jaguar prepared by TWR and raced by Walkinshaw himself. This is XJ-S TWR Group A that was originally built for the European Touring Car Championship. Powered by a production-based V12 engine, it successfully challenged the dominant BMWs, winning several races in its first season. More victories were scored in 1983 but the championship still eluded the team. With some Cosworth-sourced tweaks the V12 produced 450 bhp in 1984 and nothing could stop the spectacular Jaguars. The team won seven ETCC races, including the Spa 24 Hours, which was the first 24-hour victory for Jaguar since Le Mans, 1957. Walkinshaw himself was crowned European Champion. A year later a privately entered XJ-S also took a victory in Australia's Bathurst 1000. By that time development of the even more successful Group C cars was already well under way. With Walkinshaw at the helm, Jaguar would add two more Le Mans wins to their tally with the TWR developed XJR-9 and XJR-12 respectively.
Shortly after three more pictures of the 458 GTC surfaced, Porsche revealed the latest version of the 997 GT3 RSR. The 2011 evolution features many revisions, including a more powerful engine and also a modified aero package that generates more downforce. The latest machines from the two arch-rivals will face off for the first time during the Sebring 12 Hours in March.
Enjoy the links:
1982 - 1984 Jaguar XJ-S TWR Group A - Images, Specifications and Information
2011 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Evo '11 - Images, Specifications and Information
2011 Ferrari 458 GTC - Images, Specifications and Information