XJ220 competes in the 1993 Italian GT Supercar Championship
IT’S WELL known the XJ220 competed at the 1993 Le Mans 24 hours, initially winning the GT class only to be later disqualified due to a minor technical infringement. What isn’t so well known, though, is that the car was first raced in the Italian GT Supercar Championship the same year.
In early 1993 the company that manufactured the XJ220 for Jaguar, Tom Walkinshaw Racing, heavily modified 12 unsold examples. Three were transformed into a ‘C-specification’ using carbon fibre rather than aluminium bodywork that made the cars considerably lighter, an improved aero package and an uprated supercharged V6 that produced between 700 and 800bhp. These were the cars that would compete at Le Mans.
Six were street-legal versions of the XJ220C that had similar levels of power and the same body kit but an interior featuring full leather, air conditioning and even a stereo.
The final trio were made to Group N rules. This meant the cars were kept street legal, complete with the original aluminium panels, but a stripped interior made them slightly lighter than standard and the engines were tuned to around 700bhp.
It’s said they were made at the behest of the Benettons, the Italian family behind the famous clothing brand of the same name. Although we can find no direct proof of this, TWR’s Tom Walkinshaw would have come into regular contact with the Benettons due to being the engineering director of their successful Formula One team between 1991 and 1994.
These XJ220Ns were then entered into the Italian GT Supercar Championship by the Top Run Motorsport team that’s still based outside Castiglione Olona in northern Italy. Number 11 was driven by Vincenzo Bianchi while Paolo Cutrera had number 12. Initially both cars were in the same simple blue and white livery as Top Run’s rally machines but Bianchi’s 220 was later repainted in the famous Martini colours or w
