LE MANS, FRANCE, Feb. 4 — Today came word from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) of this year’s list of competitors and cars invited to the 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Technically the invitation was to “administrative checking and scrutineering,” but as it is a prerequisite for actually racing in the 24 Hours, it was welcome news for a number of teams and manufacturers this newspaper has been following.

Take Jaguar and Paul Gentilozzi’s Michigan-based team, JaguarRSR.

Though Jaguar is the single most successful British make in Le Mans history, having achieved a total of seven wins, Jaguar last won the 24 Hours in 1990. This year, which also marks the 75th anniversary of the Jaguar brand on road and race cars, it is time to try again. Jaguar will do so by means of JaguarRSR’s XKR GT2.

The highly competitive GT2 (Grand Touring) class is reserved at Le Mans for production-based cars. From the ACO list, JaguarRSR expect they will be running against Chevrolet Corvette C6s, Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs, BMW E92 M3s, Ferrari F430 GTs, an Aston Martin Vantage and a Spyker C8 Laviolette.

Speaking from East Lansing, MI, Gentilozzi said he was “delighted the ACO has granted us entry in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

He called it “a race that is held dearly in the hearts of motorsports fans across the world,” and added, “for Jaguar to be racing again is something special.”

Drivers for JaguarRSR will include American Scott Pruett, GTS class winner at Le Mans in 2001 in a factory Corvette C5-R, and Belgian native Marc Goossens, who will also be campaigning the XKR in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) this year.

Gentilozzi is also set to drive the XKR GT2 in the ALMS, and made a personal appeal, acknowledging both the high spirits accompanying Jaguar’s return to Le Mans and the high level of competition the team faces.

“A podium place will not fall into our hands,” he said, “but I can guarantee 100% commitment from JaguarRSR and urge fans of Jaguar and Britain’s racing heritage to support the team wholeheartedly.”

C. J. O’Donnell, Global Marketing Director of Jaguar Cars, took advantage of the occasion to look back on Jaguar’s history at Le Mans.

“Motorsport has always been important to the Jaguar brand,” he observed. “Our domination of Le Mans in the 1950s was a foundation on which the company was developed.

“It was 20 years ago that Jaguar last won Le Mans with a TWR Jaguar Sport entry driven by John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle.

“Returning to Le Mans will re-ignite excitement for the marque across the globe, all the more poignant in our 75th year.”

O’Donnell was quick to link Jaguar’s return to Le Mans with the introduction of the company’s newest models, the XK, XF and XJ, each of which he said reflect “advanced cutting‑ edge technology, stunning design and our ‘R’ performance driving experience.”

Jaguar’s return to motorsports, he predicted, will demonstrate the company’s achievement as well as the prowess of the XKR.

Their legacy is impressive. In 1951, the Jaguar C‑ type won Le Mans at its first attempt, with a further victory in 1953. The D‑ type took Le Mans wins in 1955, 1956 and 1957. More success followed in 1988 and 1990 respectively with the Jaguar XJR‑ 9LM, a V12‑ powered Group C car, and the Jaguar XJR‑ 12.

The ACO has also invited Drayson Racing to the 24 Hours. Drayson, a British team, has already announced they will be campaigning their V10-powered Lola B09-60 Coupé in the ALMS this year.

This will mark the second consecutive year at Le Mans for drivers Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker, though the first time in the Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) class. Their Lola will be one of 21 entries in LMP1.

[On February 17th, Drayson Racing announced that Emanuele Pirro, who has already distinguished himself as five-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will be their third driver for Sebring, Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. —Exec. Ed.]

Drayson Racing switched to the Lola and LMP1 mid-season last year, having run in GT2 in an Aston Martin Vantage at Sebring and Le Mans. (An electrical malfunction ended their race at Le Mans two hours before the chequered flag.) The Lola and its 650hp Judd engine helped earn them one pole position, fastest qualifying lap and two fastest race laps in the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series races that marked the season’s end. There they also achieved their longstanding goal of winning the Michelin Green X Challenge.

While still a young effort, Drayson Racing is not without its Le Mans wins. Team Manager Dale White, an American, is a two‑ time winner at La Sarthe, having managed GT teams to victory in 2003 and 2004.

Said White, “It’s a dream come true to receive an invitation to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP1. We’re a small team but we have assembled what I think is the best crew and car package to challenge for an overall win against the top factory and privateer teams in the world.

“We’re going to be the ‘David’ to their ‘Goliath.”

More Lolas

At Le Mans, Lola will have nine entries altogether in the two prototype classes — seven in LMP1 and two with smaller-displacement engines in LMP2, making the company the “most represented constructor” in the prototype field. Besides the Drayson Lola-Judd, this will include Aston Martin Racing’s Aston-powered Lola in LMP1 — one of their official factory drivers being Adrian Fernandez, the 2009 ALMS LMP2 co-champion. In addition to competing at Le Mans, the Lola-Aston will also contest at least two ALMS races, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Also returning to Le Mans and the ALMS are British companies Ginetta, Zytek, AER and Wirth Research. Wirth Research is aiding at least two Le Mans teams, Britain’s Strakka Racing and Connecticut’s Highcroft Racing, both running the Acura ARX-01c chassis. Brit David Brabham, last year’s winner of the 24 Hours, and Scot Marino Franchitti will be driving for Highcroft with their LMP1 rival from last year, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud.

All this makes for a very interesting return to Le Mans in 2010, to be sure. The dates are June 12-13.

[Contributing to this article were Faye Goldstraw, Jaguar Press Officer, Heather Haupt, RSR Director of Public Relations, and Tom Moore, Drayson Racing’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Additional information came from press releases published on the ALMS and Wirth Research websites.]

KENT, U.K. to MARRAKESH, MOROCCO, 7-16 Nov. — The Casablanca Challenge lived up to its name, but none of our challenges were as a result of the rally!

We started with a newly rebuilt engine that had done about a thousand miles before the first rally stage, or selectif, over Forestry Commission tracks in Kent. The cars were grouped into four categories: Vintageant (pre-1941), Classics (pre-1975, our class), Modern Sub-1400cc, and nine that started in Spain (the ‘Morocco Trophy’ class).

Crossing the Channel we did the third selectif on the Franco-Belgian border on closed public roads. Our time was good and we overtook an MGB on the way, but as everyone completed the route in less than the minimum time we scored that minimum, along with everyone else.

There followed a long run to the overnight stop in Le Mans and two long driving days first to Burgos in northern Spain and then to Ronda in the south. It was here that the problem, which was to be a recurring feature of the rally, manifested itself — points. This set had managed about 2,250 miles. Not very good, but as we had two spare sets we were not too bothered.

Crossing to Tangiers, Morocco, the rally schedule was disrupted, though it is not clear why. After a ferry crossing that was only delayed by half an hour, the rally arrived at the 12.30 control point some three hours late! This meant that the first Moroccan test section would be run after dark. Driving in Morocco after dark is not for the fainthearted as the roads contain all manner of unlit human, animal and mechanized travelers, as well as potholes, ruts and bumps.

On the way to the test our brakes failed — well, not quite failed, as the servo locked on. We stopped and the rally passed us by as we dismantled the servo and applied WD40 to release the brakes.

We decided against doing the hillclimb with no servo after dark and detoured direct to the hotel. More penalties. Next day we set off for the test sections in ‘rally order’, those with least penalties going first. The previous day’s problems meant that we were low down the order and in the company of cars slower than we were. We would have to overtake them on narrow test sections, relying on their goodwill to pull over and let us past. We were not alone with this problem, as two other cars had accumulated abnormal penalties during the hillclimb: the Sunbeam Tiger went into a ditch and a Citroën’s electrics had failed. Our times on the five tests were good and we climbed 14 places in the rally order.

Day 6 of the rally would end in Midelt in the Atlas Mountains. This was the location of our mishap when the driveshaft broke on the 2005 Dakar rally. Would Midelt prove to be a disaster for us again?

We sprayed more WD40 at the brake servo, and that was working again — on these test sections you needed confidence in your brakes. The tests were on open roads of tarmac or gravel in the hills with sharp, unsighted bends, sometimes amongst the trees and you never knew what to expect next. Leading the way were the ‘hot hatches’ spreading gravel over the bends making the roads more slippery for the cars behind.

Our test results for this run were good and we would climb to fifth in class, but much, much worse was yet to come. At the end of the last test we saw a marshal’s car and a rally car facing the wrong way on the road. We assumed the rally car had spun and the marshals were sorting it out. Later we found out that a competitor, Warren Chmura in a 1967 Citroën ID19, had gone off the road and crashed 60ft down the hillside. Though his wife Jean survived, Warren was killed.

All motorsport is dangerous but to experience it at first hand when it happens to someone you know is distressing.

We knew nothing of this as we approached Midelt. The town was a sea of dust as the whole place was being dug up and roads re-laid in expectation of a visit by the King in seven weeks’ time. Driving up the high street we saw and were spotted by the garage that repaired us nearly five years ago. Having greeted them all and said our fond farewells we set off to our hotel and the closing time control of the day. Err... except it wasn’t quite like that! The car wouldn’t start, it had been getting more difficult all day, and so as it was pointing uphill, we rolled backwards, bump-started the engine — and with a loud bang, broke the differential output shaft!

Could this really be possible? Could we have sheared another shaft five years on in the same place? Sadly, yes, so the car spent the night and the next morning in the garage while the shaft was welded up by the same excellent machinist.

It was then that we learned of Warren’s death. Not a good day.

Day 7 saw us leave the garage well after the rally so we decided to spend the night in the Gorges of Todra where they had their midday stop. At night the Gorges were out in the sticks. The hotel had an outside toilet block and we were asked to go to bed so they could silence the generator, which powered the lights and kept the place awake. The consolation was that when you needed that toilet block you looked up the channel formed by the rocks and had a spectacular view of bright, shining stars with no possibility of light pollution.

Next day we wanted to see the top of the Gorge, drive over the mountains and down the Dades Gorge, which the guidebook said was a good route. The hotelier said, “You’d never do it in a car like this.” But we knew better — we’d missed the piece in the guidebook where it said you needed a 4WD hovercraft!

The road started on good tarmac with the odd washed-away section, then climbed via a smooth wide gravel track to the top of the ridge. Then it became a rocky track and we were stopped by a crew digging it up to lay storm drains (see photo). When we were ready to proceed the car wouldn’t start on its own so they bump-started us, and the track continued past Berber families living under the overhang of massive rocks.

The track got worse, we had to slip the clutch in parts, then the clutch pedal went to the floor boards, the engine stalled, and we were 16km from the nearest town in a dried-up river bed. Silence reigned, no one was around, and things did not look promising.

The track ahead did not improve so we decided to retrace our steps. We selected a spot for a seven-point turn, took out and cleaned the plugs, turned the key we had both ignition and clutch! We climbed out of the river bed, past the begging children, past the road crew and returned to the tarmac road to retrace our steps to the main road.

Now the engine was spluttering — points again. Stopping at a Shell station, we bought some fuel and more or less got their agreement to use their car wash as shelter from the burning sun. Points changed and timing checked, surely the engine would spring into life! No, it needed yet another bump start before, much later than intended, we could head west into the dazzling, low sun towards Marrakesh and the rally hotel.

Allison’s dreams of seeing two gorges and lunch beside a tinkling stream remained just that.

It was dusk as we skirted Ouazzarate and headed north with a mountain range ahead of us — not the Tizi-n-Test which the rally would use but the higher and busier Tizi-n-Tikkla. On one hairpin bend, which we took a little wide, the passenger’s door flew open into a lorry, fortunately only ripping out the door handle with minor damage to the fibreglass we did not stop.

It was 10.15 before we reached our hotel but in the process we discovered that there were three Mirage Hotels in Marrakesh – and ours inevitably was the third we were directed to! We did our bit for the locals by stalling when asking some traffic police for directions, so they kindly put down their hair dryers to bump start us. Again (we’re good at bump starts!).

Sunday was the last day of the rally but we were going nowhere — we had to plan our return home and a non-starting car was no help. We checked the battery and decided it was worn out, but the problem was deeper rooted than that and we added a starter motor to our shopping list. An inspection revealed a new problem — the diff oil seal had been damaged and we were leaving a trail of oil behind. We would have to stop every 250 miles to top it up — and home was over 1,500 miles away.

Having sorted battery and diff oil, there was still time for some sightseeing before the rally dinner, and on Monday we set off for Tangiers and the ferry to Europe.

Morocco is a Muslim country but not too strict. Staying in a seaside resort outside Tangiers we asked about wine with the meal. As the restaurant was next door to an ‘Off Licence’ with a brightly lit Heineken sign we did not expect a problem. We were told we could not drink outside on the pavement but inside was O.K. Shortly our “special mint tea” arrived with teapot and tea glasses – but this mint tea was red! A strategically placed plant and nearly empty coke bottle completed the theatre!

We spent the next night in Gibraltar before the journey north to the Bilbao ferry. Our last night was in the little town of Zafra, north of Seville. We chose the Parador Hotel — one of a state-run chain, using buildings of interest. This was an inspired choice. We negotiated a price of 70 euros for a room in a castle dating from 1440 with huge towers and a spectacular open courtyard — magnificent and well worth another visit just for the building and atmosphere. A perfect end to a day of driving!

We left early for the 750km drive to the ferry port. The car was good and we were bowling along near Salamanca when the engine died. No warning, just stopped. The tacho went from 4,000rpm to zero as we coasted off a convenient slip road, donned our yellow jackets and decided — points. And so it was, the plastic cam had broken off. We put back a set we’d repaired earlier but the car still would not start. The police stopped at their third drive-by. I showed them we had a spark but not enough battery to start the engine. They returned with what sounded like “pincers” (jump leads) and the thing finally came alive. We set off, but with an unhappy car the rev counter and fuel gauge were erratic and that night we had to change the points yet again (and yes, we were stopping to do the diff oil every 250 miles).

Next morning the port — oh, bliss of security and home via Portsmouth! No one told us the Bay of Biscay was rough in November...!

[Peter and Allison finished 29th out of 32 competitors completing the rally among the London-to-Casablanca route cars. For more day-to-day coverage of the Casablanca Challenge, visit the Endurance Rally Association’s website, www.endurorally.com/casa_blanca2009.

Please note that as this story was taken from our combined January-February issue, it is also the Feature Story for January 2010.]