Some of the most iconic Jaguar->ke39 race cars->ke148 in history are all set to return for the second season of the Jaguar Classic Challenge, the automaker’s exclusive racing competition. This season, the Classic Challenge welcomes the Le Mans Classic as the newest round in its racing calendar. Considering the company’s long and illustrious history at Le Mans,->ke1591 it’s only fitting that one of the world’s most important race tracks will become a part of the racing series.

The race will be called the “Le Mans Classic”, and will run from July 8 to July 20, 2016. It’s inclusion brings the total number of races in Classic Challenge to five. The season-opening race will be take place at the Donington Historic Festival from April 30 to May 2, 2016. That will be followed by the Silverstone International Trophy (May 21 to 22), the Le Mans Classic, the AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix at the Nurburgring (August 12 to 14), and the Oulton Park Gold Cup (August 27 to 27).

In addition to the inclusion of the Le Mans Classic in the Jaguar Classic Challenge, the series will also be introducing new technical regulations that will be based on the FIA’s Appendix K frameworks for cars that compete in international historic racing competitions. According to the FIA, regulations in Appendix K “may be used for Competitions under a set of rules that preserve the specifications of their period and prevent the modifications of performance and behavior which could arise through the application of modern technology.”

With the inclusion of Le Mans and the adoption of new technical regulations, this year’s Jaguar Classic Challenge should be able to build off of the success of last year’s inaugural season. So, expect the see the usual classic Jaguars, including Mk1s, Mk2s, C-Types, D-Types, Xk120s and 140s, XKSS, and various vintage versions of the iconic E-Type, all lining up on the track when the season starts in April.

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Why it matters

I’m not one to say no to a competitive race and I’m certainly not one to shrug my shoulders on a racing series that just added Le Mans to its calendar. The Jaguar Classic Challenge may be a neophyte series in every sense of the word, but it scored a huge coup when it was able to secure a race at one of the world’s most iconic race tracks. Granted, the cars that will be competing in that race won’t have the same technological wizardry as some of the cars that compete in the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans. But what they lack in modern-day performance, they more than make up for in nostalgia and just good, all-around racing fun.

If anything, returning to Le Mans will certainly bring out a lot of good memories for Jaguar. The British automaker has a long and storied history in that track, winning the world’s oldest endurance race for the first time back in 1951 with the C-Type, otherwise known as the XKC 003. Jaguar continued its dominance in the race for the better part of that decade with overall victories in 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1957. But, just as Jaguar secured its fifth Le Mans triumph in seven years, it took 31 years before the team returned to the top step of the podium in 1988. That victory was followed by another win in 1990, the last time Jaguar won in Le Mans.

Obviously, the setup is different this time and the Le Mans Classic is far less prestigious than the endurance race. But hey, it’s still nice to see Jaguar and Le Mans once again being mentioned in the same breath. Hopefully, this could lead to the company making a return to the endurance race. Stranger things have happened, right?

Jaguar D-Type

Read our full review on the Jaguar D-Type here.