Slick Cat – 1988 Le Mans 24hrs – Was this Tom Walkinshaw’s finest hour – Winter 2018/19, Volume 01 issue 02

As 2018 draws to a close Auto Tradition would like to look back 30 years to June 1988 and the Jaguar victory at Le Mans.  Following TWR Jaguar’s success at touring car level the next step was the Holy Grail for the marque – the Le Mans 24 hours.  Jaguar’s glory days of the 1950s, under the supreme guidance of `Lofty` England, were now a distant memory. The new Walkinshaw way wasn`t necessarily the considered view, certainly not the England way.  However, this new thinking was his great strength.    The prize, if gained, could be considered as Tom Walkinshaw’s and TWR’s finest hour.  For Jaguar it would see a return to a supremacy once held with pride.  So, the first words come from the man himself told (to Mike Jiggle) just a few months prior to his death in 2010.  Tom’s thoughts are followed by other major individuals who played a significant part during that phenomenal race.