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6 years ago

THE JAGUAR #02

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In this issue, we introduce a fresh new addition to the Jaguar family with the launch of the E-PACE. F1 racer Romain Grosjean reveals his passion for Jaguar while the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team gives an insight into their preparations. Plus, we get to grips with the fast-paced sport of drone racing and spend a unique day with the XF Sportbrake.

NEW TECH Drone racing

NEW TECH Drone racing has become big business with various competing leagues attracting racers with massive cash prizes. NEXBLADES team members Luke Bannister (right, above) and Gary Kent (right, below) are among those looking to take center stage as the sport continues to grow Two years ago, as New Year’s Day approached, Gary Kent, a 37-year-old IT network manager from Surrey, England, made a resolution: He would spend 20 hours trying out something that he had never done before. Shortly after he made his pledge, a friend showed Kent a YouTube video of a drone race. The friend thought it would interest Kent, who as a once semi-professional eSports competitor used to play video games for extravagant prize pots. The video showed a group of pilots flying buzzing drones at eyewincingly high speeds, each lit up with identifying colored LEDs. The pilots controlled their drones via virtual-realityesque goggles, which allowed them to view the action as if perched inside the craft’s cockpit. Kent immediately ordered a drone that could fit in the palm of his hands. It’s a distant young cousin of the hulking machines used today for everything from professional video production to crop management, or the delivery drones bringing us our packages in some countries already. “I was hooked right away,” Kent told me. “I knew it was the thing for me.” Soon those 20 hours turned into a week, then turned into a dedicated hobby. Kent upgraded his drone, and began meeting in a deserted clearing in the forrest, where he’d race fellow pilots between the trees. In the evenings, after the students at the college where he works had gone home, Kent would practice in the forsaken gym. Kent’s talent for spatial awareness and whip-quick reaction times, honed by years of competitive video game playing, made him an accomplished pilot. Not long after, he signed up with a professional team and within a few months, he was racing his drone at speeds of more than 90mph through a salt mine in Romania. While drone racing has been around for more than five years, in the past 12 months the sport has blossomed from a hobbyist pursuit, played out in supermarket parking lots and forest clearings, to a multi-million dollar enterprise, complete with professional teams, racing calendars, PHOTOGRAPHY: ANSGAR SOLLMANN, XBLADES MEDIA HOUSE 30 THE JAGUAR

DRONE RACING HAS BLOSSOMED FROM A HOBBYIST PURSUIT INTO A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR ENTERPRISE THE JAGUAR 31

 

JAGUAR

THE JAGUAR MAGAZINE

 

JAGUAR MAGAZINE celebrates creativity in all its forms, with exclusive features that inspire sensory excitement, from seductive design to cutting-edge technology.

The latest issue features a range of inspiring people: from Luke Jennings, creator of Villanelle, one of the most interesting television characters in recent times, to Marcus Du Sautoy, who ponders whether artificial intelligence is on the brink of becoming creative. Out on the road, we visit the US to explore the foodie heaven of Portland in a Jaguar I-PACE, take a Jaguar XE to the south of France to get a photographer’s viewpoint of the charming town of Arles, and much more.

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