Jaguar team announces driver lineup for 24 Hours of Lemans

Ryan Dalziel, Marc Goossens and Paul Gentilozzi are the confirmed driver line-up for JaguarRSR at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2010 marks Jaguar's return to the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time in 15 years.

Racing a XKR run by JaguarRSR in the GT2 class is Scottish-born Ryan Dalziel, who has never experienced the Le Mans track. "It has always been my dream to drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a British driver, to be at the wheel of a Jaguar, being that it's such a prestigious British brand makes it even more special," commented the 28-year-old. He added, "It will be without doubt the highlight of my racing career to date and I know that the team will represent Jaguar and all its fans around the world with pride."

The vastly experienced sportscar driver Goossens is a Belgian native and returns to the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans race after his last run there in 2008. He has nine starts under his belt at Le Mans. Goossens stated, "As a sportscar driver, the biggest challenge is the 24 Hours of Le Mans and we have been training for it by competing in the American Le Mans Series.

"Everyone at JaguarRSR is working really hard and we have one goal; to put on the best show possible for all the Jaguar enthusiasts."

Doubling up as JaguarRSR Principal Partner and driver, Paul Gentilozzi will make his third appearance at Le Mans in the GT2 class.

"It is great to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it has been 15 years since my last race." said Gentilozzi. "I look forward to the chance to drive there again and for Jaguar. The track is like no other in the world. It is a challenge to every driver, but I welcome that and I know I have exceptionally talented team-mates. We will do the best we can out there in the #81 JaguarRSR XKR GT2."

The 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 15.00 h CET on Saturday 12th June. Follow the English-language broadcast on Radio Le Mans www.radiolemans.com. Live timing and scoring at www.lemans.org.

Jaguar at Le Mans
This year marks 75 years of the Jaguar name on both road and race cars. As a continuation of this great heritage, Jaguar returns to the famed Le Mans 24 hours. With a total of seven wins at Le Mans 24 hours between 1951 and 1990, Jaguar is the single most successful British make in the race's history. Jaguar will return to its favorite hunting ground and will line up on the starting grid on 12th June 2010 with an XKR GT2 run by JaguarRSR.

In 1951, the 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 while this racing success was followed in 1988 with the Jaguar XJR-9LM, a V12-powered Group C car. Another outright victory would follow in 1990 with the Jaguar XJR-12.

JaguarRSR
In the spring of 2009, Paul Gentilozzi and his sons, Tony and John, founded RSR in partnership with Jaguar Cars Ltd. to build and race the Jaguar XKR in the American Le Mans Series GT2 class.

Gentilozzi's relationship with Jaguar dates back to 2000 when he built and raced Jaguar XKRs in the North American Trans-Am Series. In their tenure together 66 starts were made, 31 of those resulted in team wins with an additional four victories by chassis/customer cars. This led to five Manufacturers' and five Drivers' Championships from 2000 – 2006 with Paul Gentilozzi, Scott Pruett and Klaus Graf. The Jaguar XKR was also entered in the famed 24 Hours of Daytona, where it earned the pole and win in the GTS Class (2002).