Classic Rover SD1 and jaguar XJS Touring cars to star on the Goodwood Hill Climb this weekend.

• JD Classics gears up for Goodwood with stellar line up of racing cars and drivers
• JD Classics’ hugely successful Bastos Rover SD1 and Group 44 Jaguar XJS will both take to the hillclimb
• GP2 driver Jordan King, endurance racer Alex Buncombe and ex-touring car racer Steve Soper will be driving for JD Classics

This year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, JD Classics will be thrilling the crowds with two of its most successful racing cars on the hillclimb – a Bastos Rover SD1 and a Group 44 Jaguar XJS.

Both of the JD Classics hillclimb cars have impeccable racing histories, but more importantly for the Goodwood crowd, the XJS and SD1 are ferocious and loud, fitting perfectly with this year’s theme of ‘Flat-out and Fearless’.

The Group 44 XJS uses a 5.3-litre V12 engine, putting out more than 500hp and allowing for a top speed just shy of 200mph. Stripped-out and with countless racing modifications over the road going car, this XJS is a spectacular sight.

JD Classics’ Bastos Rover SD1 was one of the most successful touring cars of its era, campaigned by Tom Walkinshaw, Win Percy and Jeff Allam. In the 1986 European Touring Car championship it took outright wins at Monza and Donington, along with five other podium finishes.

JD Classics will have a crack team of expert racing drivers piloting its cars up the hill, including GP2 racer and Manor F1 development driver, Jordan King. Sharing the Group 44 Jaguar XJS with Jordan will be endurance racer Alex Buncombe, who is currently competing in the International V8 Supercars Championship.

Taking the wheel of JD Classic’s Bastos Rover SD1 will be ex-touring and sports car driver, Steve Soper who has victories at the 24 Hours of Spa and 24 Hours Nürburging to his name.

JD Classics has long supported the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with the team’s massively successful Ford Cologne Capri racer the focal point in 2014. At the 2013 event JD Classics’ Lancia Aurelia B24S won the Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’Elegance at Goodwood, revealing JD Classics’ expertise at concours-winning restorations as well as historic racing.

JD Classics Managing Director Derek Hood said: “The Goodwood Festival of Speed is such a fantastic British motoring event, and this year’s theme of ‘Flat-out and Fearless’ is something we can really get behind. We’ve got three of Britain’s best drivers taking to the hill in some incredibly powerful British racing cars, so it’s going to be a spectacular sight for the crowds.”

JD Classics celebrates successful Donington Historic Festival 2015.

• JD Classics takes two podium finishes and two pole positions at the 2015 Donington Historic Festival
• The team’s Costin Lister was driven from sixth on the grid to a second place finish
• In the new Jaguar Heritage Challenge, JD Classics’ E-type also raced to third in a strong field of pre-1966 Jaguars
• In a successful weekend of racing, the JD Classics team also posted two fastest laps in its Cooper T33 and Costin Lister
• JD Classics’ Bastos Rover SD1 and Cooper T33 both forced to retire from the lead following technical issues

JD Classics finished the Donington Historic Festival with two podiums, two pole positions and two fastest laps – despite technical difficulties forcing two of its entries to retire from leading positions.

Competing in the Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-1961 sports cars was JD Classics’ Costin Lister, which qualified well in sixth place at the hands of JD Classics’ own Chris Ward. 

A slight misfire prevented a higher qualifying position but with the car running smoothly for the race, the Costin Lister was in the lead by lap six, having posted the fastest lap of the race. 

With a time penalty for using just a single driver and a driver mistake while chasing the leader, the Costin eventually finished second.

In the newly created Jaguar Heritage Challenge event for pre-1966 Jaguars, JD Classics was competing in an E-type, again with Chris Ward at the wheel along with historic racing driver John Young. With a qualifying position of fifth, the team were in good shape for the race, and were dicing for the lead with two other E-types. 

At one point an oil spill forced all three cars off the track and the race was red-flagged. Following a driver change shortly after, the JD Classics’ E-type came home in third place.

JD Classics’ Bastos Rover SD1 was competing in the Historic Touring Car Challenge race, where former Touring Car driver, Steve Soper, drove it emphatically to pole position. 

As the race kicked off, the Bastos Rover began pulling away from the pack, looking set to dominate from the front. Unfortunately, though, it was forced to retire with technical issues before the chequered flag.

In the Woodcote Trophy, JD Classics’ entered its Cooper T33, which put in a brilliant qualifying time to take pole position more than six-tenths of a second ahead of the Aston Martin DB3S sitting in second. 

While sitting comfortably in the lead – and having posted a fastest lap of the race – the occasional puff of smoke in the corners hinted at a mechanical problem. With the car in the pits, the team were forced to retire the Cooper T33 with a head gasket failure.

Following its successes at Donington and at the 73^rd Goodwood Members’ Meeting earlier this year, JD Classics’ next challenge is to take on the gruelling Mille Miglia with a host of expertly prepared cars.