The legendary Grant Williams with our M.D and the new (to us) Jaguar E-Type 3.8

What a way to banish the January blues! On Friday 19th, Cip and Grant Williams leapt at the somewhat risky/brave/stupid (*delete as appropriate) opportunity to take their new endeavour for an initial test on the rather icy local track at Donnington. Twas -6 degrees! Ouch!

They braced themselves by going on a track walk, taking note of the icy kerbs to avoid. As luck would have it, the sun came out and the track thawed which improved racing conditions. They then commenced with warming the car up, which led them to notice that coolant was leaking from the bottom radiator hose. Due to only receiving the car 2 weeks ago (although some prior checks and maintenance was undertaken), there had not been sufficient time to fully evaluate every aspect of the vehicle’s functionality, hence the need to get her out on track to see what she’s made of!

They mended the water hose and proceeded to complete the first few tentative laps, just before lunchtime - still curiously unsure about the January weather conditions but the cotton candy skyline was just beautiful!

After lunch it was Grant’s turn behind the wheel to take her out for a few laps and provide feedback, which in terms of suspension and dampner settings the team were able to make the changes to satisfy His Excellency! Grant has been so successful at winning the St Mary’s Trophy races at Goodwood Revival that his experience undoubtedly helps with improving race performance!

A good number of laps were undertaken which enabled them to identify what needs to be done to get to the top. For a first test, the E-Type performed admirably and although there is loads of recommissioning work to be done, they can see the potential.

The plan for the future is to race the car with the finest pre-63 GT grids such as MRL, Equipe, HRDC, hopefully Spa Six Hours and keeping our fingers crossed for Goodwood Revival - the ULTIMATE dream!