<< Prev Page 3 of 3 The XJR-12s were brought out for the long distance races at Daytona and Sebring early in the season (round 1 and 3 respectively). Davy Jones debuted the XJR-14 at Miami for round 2 of the Championship. He placed the car on pole but failed to finish after a spin late in the race. Jones was more lucky in round 4 where he clinched pole and won the race. He crashed heavily at Lime Rock after a mechanical failure but won again at Mid Ohio. In the subsequent races, Jones and Jaguar faced the virtually unbeatable combination of Juan Manuel Fangio II and the Toyota-Eagle Mk III, who won seven races in a row. Some of the components on the XJR-14 were not strong enough to cope with the high downforce levels reached on the American tracks, resulting in another big accident for Jones. He ended the season second in the Championship and Jaguar was fourth.
After two seasons and six outright victories, the Jaguar XJR-14 was retired from active service. In its first season, the spectacular machine performed to expectation, winning both Championships for Jaguar. The car was not just a Formula 1 cars with a full body, some say it was faster than a contemporary Jordan using the same engine during a pre-season test at Silverstone. Having seen what the car did in Europe, the Americans welcomed the Jaguar with very high anticipation. The car was however not designed for the very tight American tracks and the changes made to the car were limited to making it legal. Particularly the wheels proved unable to cope with the high levels of downforce the car was capable of generating. Whether proper development could have allowed the XJR-14 to successfully take on the superb Toyota-Eagle, we will never know.
There is a remarkable epilogue to the XJR-14 story that was only fully revealed in recent years. When Jaguar ended its deal with TWR in 1993, the Valparaiso facility was in desperate need for a customer. Porsche North America was approached for the supply of an engine and resources to build an open prototype based on the XJR-14. This resulted in the Porsche WSC95 that would go on to win Le Mans outright twice. Many were aware of the origins of the design but only very few people knew that the chassis used for the Porsche badged machine was actually one of the three tubs originally used for the XJR-14. Porsche last raced this car in 1998, concluding one of the most unusual careers in sports car history. << Prev Page 3 of 3
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The XJR-12s were brought out for the long distance races at Daytona and Sebring early in the season (round 1 and 3 respectively). Davy Jones debuted the XJR-14 at Miami for round 2 of the Championship. He placed the car on pole but failed to finish after a spin late in the race. Jones was more lucky in round 4 where he clinched pole and won the race. He crashed heavily at Lime Rock after a mechanical failure but won again at Mid Ohio. In the subsequent races, Jones and Jaguar faced the virtually unbeatable combination of Juan Manuel Fangio II and the Toyota-Eagle Mk III, who won seven races in a row. Some of the components on the XJR-14 were not strong enough to cope with the high downforce levels reached on the American tracks, resulting in another big accident for Jones. He ended the season second in the Championship and Jaguar was fourth.