Photo: British GT

Jaguar will return to the British GT for the time since 2007 this season, as Invictus Games Racing confirmed it would enter a pair of all-new Jaguar F-Type SVR GT4s.

The car was unveiled at the Autosport Show in Birmingham yesterday and is the latest in a string of new cars to the GT4 ranks.

The team is a collaboration between the Invictus Games Foundation and Superdry co-founder James Holder, who commissioned Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division to develop and build two bespoke F-TYPE SVRs.

The car will be run for a  select group of wounded, injured and sick (WIS) veterans of the British Armed Forces.

“Invictus Games Racing will enable ex-servicemen and women who have experienced physical or psychological trauma during service to compete against each other and the rest of the top-level racing field, in cars that are tailor-made for them,” said Holder, who has self-financed the project. “We wanted to give these men and women the chance to compete in a professional racing competition with the established teams.

Mission Motorsport will identify and train four drivers from the Armed Forces best suited and most likely to gain personally from the programme. Each will be joined by professional Pro drivers, as per British GT’s Pro/Am classification. But instead of fielding three drivers per car, the Ams will take it in turns to race throughout the season.

The F-Type SVR GT4 retains the 5 litre supercharged V8 engine from the road car, but moves from an all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive configuration.

theRACINGLINE.net Comment

Let’s get the obvious out the way – it’s beautiful, isn’t it? The F-Type is a modern car, but it’s unmistakable a Jaguar. The F-Type SVR GT4 follows that same idea – it just looks like a Jaguar.

GT4 really is the place to be. Manufacturers have recognised that GT3 costs are getting a little out of hand, and whilst the entries (and therefor sales) are still strong, it is a bubble that could burst. GT4 is clearly being positioned as the GT3 back-up plan.

The Jag is a little different, as it isn’t a full works produced, customer focused entries. But should the entry be a success, who knows what it will lead to?

Engineering student, lover of all things technical and lifelong motorsport fan. Employed in the Oil & Gas Industry, developing Major Emergency Management simulations. Owner of the best beard on the site.