thks to ginger... yesterday was a perfect e-type day... with help from gary hagopian who found the location, she put together another florida slalom yesterday, so i took my e-type on a 550 miles round trip to but some rubber and have a few laugh. perfect cool sunny weather...

for those in other regions, a slalom is a fairly common occurence, but here in florida the state of old farts who spend more time detailing their cars than driving them, it's only the 3rd Jaguar slalom ever... so driving there was a must!

the location they found is a local sherif training facility used by local autoX club which not only has a big area for the slalom but also a small road course which we got to use in the afternoon.

times on the slalom where disapointing for just about everyone... even thought the surface was clean and fell grippy... it wasn't. i could only manage 1 run in the 45s, other 4s where in 46. i took comfort in the fact that i wasn't far from an experienced autoxer in a cooper S and just under 3 sec from slalom master gary hagopian, on 18" race slicks. i dont' think he's ever run his e-type in the 42s... he's usually under 40. Ginger had some good runs, other highlights were a Mark 4, a 420G (the largest JAguar ever built) running the course.

best part of the day though was in the afternoon when we got to run the small road course... under a mile, but all turns, long 180s, etc... all 2nd gear but for a brief upshift into 3rd on a small straight. on that course, my e-type felt near perfect. very well balanced, with just the right amount of on demand oversteer to make it fun and help point to the next corner. on the long 180s, once turned in it took almost o steering input to complete the turns, jsut the right amount of throttle.

it was revenge on the Minis, since i managed the best time of the day, beating the cooper S by a second... and best time of the day also meant beating another well known silver coupe...

even the ride to and from orlando was perfect. in addition to the weather, no traffic and overall high speed on the turnpike... no problem fnd rabbits to follow, some running aroudn 100mph...

thnks Ginger for the great day. can't wait for the next one... the North Carolina club is gong to have one in may i think, after their concours, i'm definitely going... and of course, the big one will be at the JCNA Challenge Championship in braselton ga in september...

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Tue, 03/15/2005 - 10:06

Ginger sent me some extra clips that i amposting right now including her run, Gary's and the MArk IV ... great stuff!!!

see link below...

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Tue, 03/15/2005 - 09:50

Glad to hear that the first slalom of the year went well. Hopefully, this will be another banner year for the Slalom program. And those E-types look great! I love the picture of the three Ser. III's together on that outing in Franklin ... Ginger's, mine and Pascal's, all lined up.

Looking forward to seeing you two in Orlando in two weeks, and mixing it up in the slalom with you guys in Atlanta in September.

Regards,
Steve Weinstein
JCNA National Slalom Chairman
'70 XKE FHC
'69 XKE OTS

Submitted by cordag@aol.com on Mon, 03/14/2005 - 19:01

Yes, it was the perfect day, not a cloud in the sky. And this new location is the cat's meow! I hope we can return there at least once a year. No shopping or dining facilities, but otherwise perfect. :-D

This is a beautiful central location, with other great driving roads around in the Mt. Dora and Howey-in-the-Hills area. Rally possibilities abound with breakfast, brunch, or lunch involved.

We did have a blast! Everyone did so much to pitch in that the work was made easier. I'm so busy with the AGM, Gary and gang took over registration & timing table duties (and brought the timers!)

We have big mushy cones that can take the beating, so we are ready to go again any time! Thanks for driving up with your copilot. She was a big help at the stop gate. :-D

Ginger Corda
Jaguar Club of Florida