Judd (engine)

Judd is a name brand of engines produced by "Engine Developments Ltd.", a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Engine Developments was intended to build engines for Brabham's racing efforts, and became one of the first firms authorised by Cosworth to maintain and rebuild its DFV engines, but has since expanded into various areas of motorsport.

Judd has provided engines for many major series, including Formula 1 and other smaller formula series, sports car racing, and touring car racing. They have been associated with manufacturers such as Yamaha, MG, and Honda, although they have mainly been a privateer engine supplier to customers.

Engine history

Lower formulas

Following the departure of Jack Brabham from Engine Developments, Judd would be hired by Honda to develop an engine for the company's return to Formula Two in association with Ron Tauranac's Ralt team.

After the demise of Formula 2 at the end of the 1984 season, Judd would continue to develop new engines for Honda. The first was the Judd AV, a turbocharged V8 engine built for Honda's CART campaign. It was first raced by Galles Racing at the Indianapolis 500 in 1987 badged as the Brabham-Honda. Truesports racing took over primary team development a year later. Bobby Rahal scored the only victory for that engine at the Pocono 500 in 1988. Judd continued to build upgrades to the AV into the early 1990s, even after Honda had stopped badging the engines. As Honda moved into the new Formula 3000 series, Judd would once again develop the company's engine. Based on the architecture of the AV, the new BV V8 would be a naturally aspirated variant, and would eventually form the basis for the Judd CV Formula One engine.

KV

After the company's departure from Formula One, Judd would return to Formula 3000 in 1995 with the development of the 3000 cc KV V8 engine. Judd would build the engines that every Formula 3000 team would use, although Zytek would be tasked with maintaining the over 80 engines after they were built. Although Judd stopped production of the KV and the Formula 3000 series would also close, Zytek would use the engines as a basis for the A1 Grand Prix units in 2005.

Formula One

In 1988, in conjunction with March Engineering, Judd made the move into the recently-reintroduced normally-aspirated variant of Formula One, which would completely replace turbocharged cars in 1989. By using the existing BV V8 as the starting point for their new F1 engine, Judd would be able to save cost while at the same time producing a customer engine that could compete on track and in the marketplace with the Ford-Cosworth V8s that had become standard equipment for the (mostly smaller) teams competing to the new rules.

CV

The first Formula One engine developed by Judd, the CV, was built to the 3500 cc engine formula for naturally aspirated engines. The engine shared many design features with the Judd BV engine, yet was expanded out to 3.5 litres. March Engineering originally signed to use the Judd CV, but WilliamsF1 was later forced to turn to Judd after they lost their supply of Honda engines. Ligier also eventually bought CVs for use in the 1988 season. Judd powered cars would manage to score four podiums in their debut season, split between March and Williams.

For the 1989 season, the all-new narrow-angle Judd EV (with a more compact 76-degree vee angle, rather than the more conventional 90 degrees of the AV/BV/CV) would be developed. However construction of the CV would continue on as a cheaper alternative for smaller teams. Team Lotus and EuroBrun would be the only CV customers, with Lotus managing to finish sixth in the constructor's championship. EuroBrun would originally be the only team to continue on with the CV unit into 1990, but Life would eventually buy CV units to replace their failed in-house design.

EV

The previous Judd CV was designed with the conventional 90-degree engine block. Following the 1990 season it was decided that a narrower vee-angle would be adopted to give a more compact engine; the original intent was a 75-degree vee, but limitations in Judd's CNC equipment (it could only work in whole-degree increments) meant that 76 degrees was used instead.

March Engineering would upgrade their 1988 CV unit to an EV in 1989, while Brabham would also be supplied with the new engines. Brabham and March would each score a podium with the EV engine. Both teams would continue with the EV in 1990, although March Engineering was renamed Leyton House Racing. Leyton House would take the only podium, a second place at the French Grand Prix. For 1991, Team Lotus would be the only team to use the older EV.

GV

In the normally-aspirated 3500 cc formula, ten and twelve cylinder engines had proved to be more powerful than V8s. This prompted Judd to replace the CV and EV V8s with an all new engine in 1991 for the BMS Scuderia Italia team. The new 72-degree angle V10 engine would carry the GV name. The engine was powerful but Scuderia Italia's Dallara chassis was lackingFact|date=May 2008, leaving the team with only a single podium all season.

Judd's agreement with Scuderia Italia would end following the 1991 season, leaving the GVs to be used by the Brabham team and newcomers Andrea Moda Formula. Neither team scored a point all season and Judd engines pulled out of Formula One.

Yamaha partnership

Following Judd's withdrawal from Formula One in 1992, John Judd turned to Yamaha to continue production of his engines. Using the Judd GV V10 as a base, Yamaha would develop an all new cylinder head and would brand the motor as the OX10 (known by Judd as the HV), for use by Tyrrell Racing in 1993. Once again, Tyrrell would be unable to score any points all season. An improved OX10B for 1994 would boost Tyrrell's performance, as the team scored a podium and finished sixth in the constructor's championship.

Rule changes in 1995 would see the OX10C reduced to 3000 cc, although the architecture of the engine was generally the same. Tyrrell's performance fell off again however, as the team managed a mere five points and finished eighth in the championship. 1996 saw the same points total from Tyrrell, although the new Yamaha OX11 (Judd JV) engine was used based on an all-new design. After 1996 Tyrrell switched to using Ford branded engines and the last appearance of Yamaha and Judd-developed engines in Formula One would be through usage by Arrows. Damon Hill nearly won the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix but suffered throttle cable problems and finished in second, the only podium for the team all season.

ports car racing

GV10

In 1991, the World Sportscar Championship introduced an engine formula nearly identical to Formula One. This was an attempt to decrease cost by allowing sportscar teams to purchase Formula One engines, while at the same time encouraging major sportscar manufacturers to enter Formula One. This allowed for Judd to offer their GV V10 to customers following modifications to meet the endurance requirements necessary in the World Sportscar Championship.

As financial troubles hit other teams, the Judd V10 became one of the few privately funded engines for the top C1 class. Mazda was forced to turn to Judd to replace their outlawed rotary engines, although the GV10s would be rebadged as Mazda MV10s. Euro Racing, the other half of EuroBrun, would also purchase GV10s. Mazda managed to finish third in the team's championship while Euro Racing took fifth.

The World Sportscar Championship would be canceled in 1993, quickly ending Judd's brief involvement in sports car racing.

GV4

After engine involvement with Yamaha in Formula One, Judd returned once again to sports car racing. Believing that a large naturally aspirated engine would be fitting for use as a customer supply in the Sports Racing World Cup, Judd resurrected the GV10 from a few years prior. Expanded out to 4000 cc and upgraded with new technology, the new GV4 would become a favorite choice for teams not running the dominant Ferrari 333 SP, eventually winning the championship with Racing for Holland in 2002 and 2003. In 2000 a Doran Ferrari-Judd hybrid appeared, the performance of the Judd engine being deemed superior to that of the Italian unit.

The GV4s would also become powerful enough to contest for overall wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Oreca Dallaras running the GV4 finishing fifth and sixth in 24hLM|2002 as well as an overall victory for Doran Lista at the Rolex 24 at Daytona that same year.

KV675

In 2001, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, announced new regulations for Le Mans Prototypes. The smaller LMP675 category would allow naturally aspirated V8 engines up to 3400 cc. Using the design of the Formula 3000 KV V8, Judd would expand the engine out to the maximum 3.4 litres and reinforce it for endurance racing, creating the KV675.

In its debut year, the KV675 would win the LMP675 championship in the American Le Mans Series for Dick Barbour Racing. However, factory supported efforts by MG would becoming the dominant efforts in LMP675. The KV675 would eventually win its class at the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans and win the LMP2 class championship in the ALMS in 2005, both for Intersport Racing.

GV5

In 2002, Judd introduced a variant of the GV4 known as the GV5. The engine increase capacity to 5.0 litres in an attempt to reduce revs, increase torque, and increase reliability. The GV5 would quickly prove its capabilities over the GV4, when it took second place in the teams championship in the Rolex Sports Car Series in its debut year. Pescarolo Sport would later go on to finish fourth at the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans with a GV5. The following year, Pescarolo finished in second place at Le Mans and would also successfully win the teams championship in the Le Mans Endurance Series.

The GV5 received an upgrade in 2006, using lighter materials to decrease the weight of the unit by 20 kg. [Cite_web | title = GV5 S2 Runs For The First Time | url = http://www.racecarnewmedia.co.uk/judd/story.asp?NewsID=2353 | publisher = Engine Developments | date = 2006-01-24 | accessdate = 2006-09-13] The GV5 S2 would improve its performance for Pescarolo by once again taking second at Le Mans, as well as winning every event in the Le Mans Series season. The engine would be further upgraded in 2007, with an increase in displacement to 5500 cc to permit more torque while attaining the maximum power at lower rpms and improving fuel consumption. [cite web | title = New Engine for 2007 | url = http://www.racecarnewmedia.co.uk/judd/story.asp?NewsID=2360 | publisher = Engine Developments | date = 2006-07-13 | accessdate = 2006-09-13] The Judd GV5.5 S2 is currently the most popular customer engine in use in LMP1 class prototypes.

XV675

In an attempt to displace Ford Motor Company and Cosworth as the only supplier of engines in the Champ Car World Series, Judd proposed a variant of the KV675 for use in the series through an agreement with MG, who would badge the engine. The deal would not come to fruition, but the development work performed to the KV675 to adapt it to Champ Car was adapted once again to sports car racing. The improved engine, known as XV675, would retain the 3.4 litre layout but include technology developed from the GV series of engines to increase revs and performance while reducing weight.

The XV675 would debut in 2004 with mixed success. Ray Mallock Ltd. would earn the XV675 one of its few successes, winning the LMP2 class at the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the team would later opt to switch to the Advanced Engine Research turbocharged LMP2 engine which has become dominant in the class.

DB

On September 12 2007, Engine Developments announced their plans for a replacement for the XV675, termed the DB. Although it once again retains the 3.4 liter engine capacity, the unit is entirely new. Judd plans to work closely with a top LMP2 team in order to get better testing out of the DB in 2008 before the engine is released to any customers. [cite web | title = Engine Developments Introduces New Judd LMP2 Engine | url = http://www.the-paddock.net/content/view/242052/49/ | publisher = The-Paddock.net | date = 2007-09-12 | accessdate = 2007-09-12]

Touring car racing

In 1997, Engine Developments was chosen by Nissan Motors to lead their engine development program on the Primera for the British Touring Car Championship. Nissan went on to win the constructor's championship in 1998 and 1999, with Laurent Aïello winning the driver's title in 1999.

As part of MG's involvement with Judd elsewhere, the two worked together on MG's return to the British Touring Car Championship in 2004. Judd developed the K2000 engine to for the MG ZS, with Anthony Reid finishing fourth in the driver's championship in their debut year. However, MG's financial troubles forced the company to drop out of the championship soon after, leaving the K2000 open to customers. Des Wheatley would install the engine in an MG Metro and win the British Rallycross Championship.

References

External links

* [http://www.engdev.com/index2.htm Engine Developments LTD]