The “ridiculous” Group C Jaguar that roared briefly but loudly

Martin Brundle wasn’t blessed with the finest Formula 1 machinery for his 159 world championship starts. The Benetton B192, which provided five of his nine grand prix podiums, was probably the best but it doesn’t take the accolade of his favourite race car.

PLUS: Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers

Ross Brawn’s Jaguar XJR-14 moved the goalposts in world sportscar racing in 1991 and Brundle was Tom Walkinshaw’s part-timer early in the season, in between his Brabham F1 commitments.

The 3.5-litre naturally aspirated XJR-14 took pole by 2.5 seconds at the Suzuka opener, only to be let down in the race by starter motor failure. But Jaguar bounced back at Monza. This time the gap to the rest was 4s and Brundle finished both first and second, sharing the winning car with Derek Warwick and the runner-up with Teo Fabi.

“The car was so fast,” says Brundle. “It was an unbelievable car, similar to F1 speeds. And hot inside.

“The whole car was a venturi from behind the driver and it wasn’t overpowered with the Ford HB engine. You could just do ridiculous things with it. I remember at Monza on a saturated wet track being on slicks, watching the rooster tail out the back, and the car was just stuck to the road. An extraordinary car.”

Brundle rates his Silverstone performance in the BRDC Empire Trophy as his finest. A broken throttle cable cost him just over nine minutes, or six laps. He then drove the #3 XJR-14 solo, smashing the lap record at the reconfigured circuit.

During his charge, Brundle set a fastest lap of 1m29.372s, 0.7s quicker than anyone else and – perhaps even more remarkably – 1.6s faster than he would manage in his Brabham BT60Y during the British GP two months later. Indeed, it took until lap five of that GP for runaway winner Nigel Mansell’s Williams FW14 to surpass Brundle’s mark on the new-for-1991 layout. “That shows how good that car was,” says Brundle.

Brundle finished third, four laps down on the winning sister car of Warwick/Fabi and three laps behind the second-paced Mercedes of Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher, having repeatedly overtaken the field.

“Sportscars seemed to suit my driving style,” says Brundle, who puts his 1992 Benetton drive down to his Silverstone effort. “I always felt invincible in them, whereas I didn’t in a formula car, for some reason.

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a car, other than the 1991 Jaguar, that said, ‘Come on, let’s go, throw everything at me because I can handle it’”
Martin Brundle

“I think they tended to have a touch more understeer and you really had to boss them. I always had confidence in them. When you feel confident in a car that’s got lots of downforce you can get some incredible speed going.”

Away from his own racing career, Brundle has now driven many machines through his television work. Dan Gurney’s Eagle-Weslake, the ex-Ayrton Senna Lotus 98T and Lewis Hamilton’s 2018 Mercedes W09 – “just so beautifully sorted” – but they don’t quite get Brundle’s final vote.

“I’ve driven 70 F1 cars now and the one that stands out is the 2008 McLaren, Lewis’s car,” says the 65-year-old of the MP4-23. “It’s a massive aerodynamic device. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a car, other than the 1991 Jaguar, that said, ‘Come on, let’s go, throw everything at me because I can handle it’.

Brawn devised the XJR-14 in which Fabi (left) won the 1991 title and Brundle starred when F1 commitments allowed

Photo by: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

“Test manager Indy Lall said, ‘Pit now’ – I was on quite old Bridgestones and we were doing a TV piece – and I didn’t want to. I’ve never known a car that invites you to go flat-out like that car did.

“Of the cars I raced, it’s got to be the Jaguar and of the cars I’ve driven it’s the 2008 McLaren.”

So, is there anything left on the wish list? “The Williams FW14B, the one that thrashed us in 1992, spoiled our year because it was so dominant,” Brundle immediately shoots back. “That’s top of my list.”

The Williams FW14B remains top of the bucket list for Brundle, who spent much of 1992 chasing it in his Benetton

Photo by: Motorsport Images