10 to 20 millimeters and 50 years of Jaguar E-Type in the Eifel
The weather forecast had not been very promising. Around 10 to 20 millimetres of rain were expected in the Eifel for the race Sunday at the AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2011, and so it turned out. The guys from the Jaguar E-Type Challenge were probably hit particularly hard. They had already suffered from the rain the day before and it was almost worse on Sunday.
However, around 30 Jaguar E-Types, or rather their drivers, were not deterred by the weather and took to the Grand Prix circuit. They competed in unison in Series 1 E-Type cars, ranging in vintage from 1961 to 1965.
It's impressive when this E-Type one-make cup field thunders towards you. The cars are beautiful, the sound is typical of an inline six-cylinder. There is hardly a better way to celebrate the 50th birthday of the E-Type.
The majority of the vehicles were convertibles with hardtops.
But there was also a whole series of coupés.
And then there were several versions of the Low Drag Coupé.
Motorsport was fair, victory was not given away.
And there was also a fight behind the wheel. And even as a spectator, you could understand the difficulties the drivers had in finding the optimum braking point without ABS and similar electronic aids.
Some of the riders almost felt like they were in a boat because of the floods of water ...
... but the drivers of the World Sportcar Masters also had this problem on Sunday. After the race, they also knew what 10 to 20 millimeters of rain felt like.
A complete and comprehensive report on the AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix can be found here.
