2011 LMP2 Judd Engine Announced
The HK

Following on from recent news from both Lola and Oreca concerning LMP2 cars for the new 2011 regulations, comes an announcement from Engine Developments that its new engine for the class - based on a BMW 4.0 litre V8 - is nearing the end of the design stage.

“We have no doubt that this is the best engine choice we could have made for LMP2, having studied many possible candidates”, said John Judd, Managing Director of ED. “The engine is light and has many clever design features for which the manufacturer must be congratulated, and with our extensive endurance racing experience we believe it can be developed into a very successful engine.

"Since this is the first new engine we have developed since the untimely passing of our friend and colleague Hiro Kaneda we have decided to dedicate this engine to his memory and it will therefore be designated the “HK”.”

Available on a lease-only basis from January, dyno testing on the engine will begin shortly, but it will be on display in the Silverstone paddock this weekend. And there is good news for those teams planning on running their current chassis; “We have designed many new parts for the new engine, focusing on performance and ease of chassis installation with the minimum amount of change from our current LMP2 engine," explained Judd.

"To that end, for example, the new engine can use the same gearbox bellhousing and has the same lower front engine mountings as our current LMP2 engine. It can also easily be adapted to suit chassis that have previously had other engines installed. We strongly believe that in order to be attractive to potential customers the engine installation and car conversion costs must be kept to a minimum.”