Jaguar Racing Announces New Formula One Car
26 January 2000
MAHWAH, N.J. -- Jaguar Racing announced on Tuesday the new car which will
launch Jaguar into Formula One. The new car -- the Jaguar R1 -- will challenge
for honors in this year's FIA World Championship,was unveiled at a ceremony
in London by Jaguar's Chairman, Dr.Wolfgang Reitzle.
Speaking at the London launch Dr.Reitzle said: "Jaguar is a natural and
logical challenger in Formula One. For over fifty years we have been
consistent winners in motor sport. We have won Le Mans seven times. We have
won at Daytona. We have won world Sportscar Championships and we have won the
Monte Carlo Rally and the Coupe des Alpes.
"Our entry into Formula One though, clearly signals Jaguar's direction for
the future. There is an excitement and passion about Formula One racing which
closely matches the emotional appeal of Jaguar. With its constant emphasis
on advanced technology, Formula One racing will also be a valuable showcase as
we expand our model range -- and expand into new sectors of the market -- with
innovative, performance orientated products such as the X400 -- our
forthcoming new small sports saloon.
"At the heart of our plans for the future is a renewed commitment to that
unique blend of emotion and technology which makes Jaguar one of the most
evocative automotive marques in the world. We call it emotional engineering
and the F-Type concept car which we unveiled at Detroit two weeks ago
perfectly illustrates our philosophy for the future.
"We are a new team, one of the newest teams in Formula One. We have a lot
to learn. The team though, is highly motivated and determined to succeed and
we are, of course, able to build on the very firm foundations established by
Jackie Stewart.
"Our ultimate objective is the ultimate prize in motorsport -- the FIA
Formula One World Championship."
Jackie Stewart, Chairman of Jaguar Racing said: "The birth of a new
Formula One team is always an emotional event and I am proud to be associated,
once again, with a marque I drove in the early stages of my career and a
marque which has such a distinguished and successful racing heritage. When
Ford bought the Stewart Ford team it was always my hope that Jaguar would
become involved. Jaguar has an ambitious and progressive management team and
over the past few months it has been a great pleasure to work with them as we
prepared for the new season. I share Jaguar's great sense of heritage. I
also admire their vision for the future and I am delighted to be involved in
helping Jaguar Racing achieve its objectives.
"The Jaguar R1 is a car with great potential and in Eddie Irvine and
Johnny Herbert we have two outstanding drivers who will help us realize that
potential. Both drivers have already tested the car at Silverstone, Barcelona
and Jerez and the feedback is extremely positive. Cosworth have worked with
us to make significant improvements to the engine. Last year's engine was
generally recognized as being one of the best -- and certainly one of the most
powerful, lightest and compact -- engines in the Championship. We have an
even more competitive engine -- the Cosworth CR2 -- for this year. I am
looking forward with great anticipation to the new season."
Jackie Stewart also announced that Jaguar Racing would continue to have
the enthusiastic support of major partners HSBC, MCI Worldcom, Lear and
Hewlett Packard. For the new season they will be joined by German-based
international brewing giant Becks Beer and the global delivery organization
DHL, he said.
The team's long-standing technology partners -- Bridgestone, Visteon and
Unigraphics Solutions, will be joined by Texaco as the fuel partner.
"All of us at Jaguar Racing are committed to ensuring that our partners
share in the massive global exposure generated by Formula One," he added.
Ford Motor Company Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Neil Ressler
said, "Jaguar Racing is now an integrated part of Jaguar Cars and is fully
responsible for Jaguar's Formula One program. In my capacity as Chief
Technical Officer of Ford Motor Company I will be ensuring that Jaguar Racing
has access to the full range of Ford Motor Company's technological resources
-- including Cosworth Racing and Pi.
"I have always advocated the closest possible links between the racing
team and Jaguar's engineering team in Coventry and Jaguar engineers and
designers are already contributing to the racing program.
"I also believe that Jaguar's production car engineers can learn a great
deal from the racing team in Milton Keynes. The need to solve problems
quickly breeds a nimble and innovative culture which we will be able to
transfer to the road car development programs. I regard technology and
process transfer as one of the major advantages for Jaguar and I intend to
ensure that we use it for the benefit of our customers," said Mr.Ressler.
Jonathan Browning, Jaguar's Managing Director said: "Jaguar is expanding
rapidly. We have just reported record sales for last year -- up 50 percent
over 1998. In Europe we grew faster than any other car manufacturer. And we
have even more ambitious plans for the future. Formula One, with its massive
global reach, will clearly promote a wider recognition of the Jaguar marque.
Eighty percent of the cars Jaguar builds are exported. The international
dimension of Formula One is a major attraction.
"We know from our previous involvement in motorsport that a successful
racing program has major commercial benefits. For example, it will give us
that vital connection with the performance orientated buyers -- a key factor
as we introduce new performance-orientated cars in the future."
Jonathan Browning also pointed out that Jaguar employees were amongst the
most enthusiastic supporters of Jaguar's new racing team. "Racing is part of
the Jaguar culture and there is already tremendous excitement and interest in
our plants in the Midlands and on Merseyside," he said.
Jaguar Racing's Chief Operating Officer Paul Stewart described the Jaguar
R1 as a new and logical development of last season's car. "Every single
element of last year's car was analyzed and improved and Technical Director
Gary Anderson and his team will continue to work with the drivers to make
further improvements before the first race in Australia. I'm very confident
that we have a car which is capable of winning races this season," he said.