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

Martin Brundle was not blessed with the perfect Formula 1 machinery during his 159 world championship starts. The Benetton B192, which gave him five of his nine Grand Prix podiums, was arguably his best, but was no match for his favorite racing automobile.

PLUS: Ranking of the highest 10 Benetton F1 drivers

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Ross Brawn's Jaguar XJR-14 moved the goalposts in world sports automobile racing in 1991, and Brundle was Tom Walkinshaw's part-time driver at first of the season, between his Brabham F1 appearances.

The 3.5-litre naturally aspirated XJR-14 took pole position within the Suzuki opener by 2.5 seconds, but was let down within the race by starter failure. But Jaguar bounced back at Monza. This time the gap was 4 seconds and Brundle took each first and second place, sharing the winning automobile with Derek Warwick and runner-up with Teo Fabi.

“The car was very fast,” says Brundle. “It was an unbelievable automobile, reaching F1-like speeds. And it's hot inside.

“The whole car was a venturi positioned behind the driver and was not overloaded with the Ford HB engine. You can just do funny things with it. I remember at Monza I was on slicks on a wet track and I saw a rooster's tail flying out the back and the car just got stuck in the road. An extraordinary car.”

Brundle considers his performance at Silverstone within the BRDC Empire Trophy to be his best. A broken throttle cable cost him just over nine minutes or six laps. He then drove the No. 3 XJR-14 solo, breaking the lap record on the modified track.

Brundle looks exhausted as he stands alone on the rostrum in third position after a herculean effort aboard the XJR-14

Photo: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

During his charge, Brundle set a fastest lap of 1m 29.372s, which was 0.7s faster than anyone else and, even perhaps more remarkably, 1.6s faster than he would have achieved in his Brabham BT60Y on the GP UK two months later. Indeed, it took runaway winner Nigel Mansell's Williams FW14 until the fifth lap of that GP to beat Brundle's result on the new-for-1991 layout. “That shows how good that car was,” says Brundle.

Brundle finished third, 4 laps behind the winning Warwick/Fabi sister automobile and three laps behind the second-placed Mercedes of Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher, after repeatedly overtaking the sector.

“Sports cars seemed to suit my driving style,” says Brundle, who credits his 1992 Benetton drive to Silverstone. “I at all times felt invincible in them, whereas for some reason I didn't feel invincible in a formula automobile.

“I don't think I've ever met a car other than a 1991 Jaguar that said, 'Come on, let's throw everything at me and I can handle it.'”
Martin Brundl

“I believe they’d a bit more understeer and you actually had to manage them. I actually have at all times trusted them. When you’re feeling confident in a automobile that has loads of downforce, you may achieve incredible speeds. “

As well as his own racing profession, Brundle has now driven numerous machines in his television work. Dan Gurney's Eagle-Weslake, ex-Ayrton Senna Lotus 98T and Lewis Hamilton's 2018 Mercedes W09 – “simply beautifully matched” – but don't quite earn Brundle's final vote.

“I've driven 70 F1 cars and the one that stands out is the 2008 McLaren, Lewis's car,” says the 65-year-old MP4-23. “It's an enormous aerodynamic device. I don't think I've ever met a automobile aside from a 1991 Jaguar that said, “Come on, let's throw everything at me because I can handle it.”

Brawn developed the XJR-14 wherein Fabi (left) won the title in 1991, with Brundle starring when F1 commitments permitted

Photo: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

“Test director Indy Lall said, 'Pull over now' – I used to be riding quite old Bridgestones and we were doing a segment for TV – but I didn't need to. I've never known a automobile that encouraged you to drive at full speed like this automobile.

“Of the cars I've raced, it's definitely a Jaguar, and of the cars I've driven, it's a 2008 McLaren.”

Is there anything left in your wish list? “The Williams FW14B, the one that crushed us in 1992, ruined our year because it was so dominant,” Brundle immediately replies. “It's at the top of my list.”

The Williams FW14B stays at the highest of Brundle's wish list, and he spent most of 1992 chasing it in his Benetton.

Photo: Motorsport Images