C o mpetition within JCNA arenas is challenging.  No doubt about that.

But it can have its own rewards.  Satisfying awards. And seven members of the Ontario Jaguar Owners Association are enjoying that satisfaction right now.

The distance between a 1st and a 2nd in Concours competition can be -- and HAS been -- as little as 1/1000th of a point. And the time difference between 1 st and 2nd in Slalom can be as miniscule as 1/000th of a second.

During 2007 a number of OJOA members competed in both Jaguar Slalom and Jaguar Concours d'Elegance in both Canada and the United States.  Most members chose to compete locally only, at the Ontario Concours, held in Oakville, or at the Ontario slalom, held in Brampton. Some members did both.

A very few members did both -- in both countries.

Other members participated in Concours only while some participated in Slalom only.

Regardless of how members chose to enjoy their 2007 Jaguar season, JCNA-level activities always offered the opportunity to spend time with like-minded enthusiasts -- even if the stress of competition did provide omnipresent tension to the day.  In the best of situations this competitive tension led to raucous, friendly banter between competitors, which served to highten everyone's satisfaction levels.

The two forms of JCNA-level competition enjoyed by Ontario members last year couldn't be more different. The Concours saw Jaguars prepared, as much as possible, to just-from-the-factory levels of perfection. The Slalom saw Jaguars put through their acceleration, braking and turning paces in an amazingly challenging Slalom course. 

Since these very special cars are known for their "Grace, Pace and Space"  it's worth noting that Concours activities recognized Jaguar's "Grace", Slalom competition recognizes Jaguar's "Pace".  And owners get to enjoy Jaguar's "Space" whenever they driving their elegant Cats.

Each year, Ontario members can be found on the list of year-end winners. This year is no exception -- and with one very worthwhile surprise.

That surprise is that -- for the first time in OJOA history -- and Ontario member has earned top spot in North America is Slalom .

That member is Ross Hamilton, who also happens to be OJOA's Slalom Chairman. Ross not only beat out the reigning champion in  the 6-cylinder E-Type class -- which had been held by North American Slalom chairman and JCNA vice president Steve Weinstein, but Ross bested two dozen other E-Type racers.

It's worth noting that the lovely E-Type that Ross was driving belonged to another OJOA member, Nelson Burkhart, who placed 4th in North American Slalom standings.

Ross' North American time, at 44.668 seconds, bested the 2nd place finisher, from Oregon, by 0.222 second.

Here are the year-end JCNA placings of Ontario members: