ILMOR ENGINEERING LTD

In 2001, Ilmor began to develop the GM IRL engine, which led to a speculative engine design for the new 2003 IRL rules and the beginning of the relationship with Honda. The design, manufacture and joint development of this engine resulted in a further expansion into what became known as the Special Projects Group, forming a discrete business with its own dedicated resources, within the rest of the company. This group, working in partnership with Honda Performance Development (HPD) in California, created an engine that totally dominated the 2004 and 2005 IRL seasons. Since 2006 Ilmor and HPD have been responsible for the sole supply of engines to the IRL series and are proud to have achieved a 100% reliability record for all IRL race engines since the start of the 2007 season.

In late 2002, Mercedes-Benz elected to begin a phased buyout of Ilmor. The Special Projects Group found that this limited opportunities to expand its business portfolio and so Roger and Mario elected to buy Special Projects from Mercedes, along with the Ilmor name. This was accomplished by the end of June 2005 and a new Ilmor was born. Ilmor is now led by Steve Miller, an engineer with more than two decades of success in US racing.

Ilmor Engineering Ltd now possesses its own independent design, development, testing and manufacturing facilities, along with the necessary support functions such as finance, procurement, production planning and inspection, employing over 50 staff in the UK. The main business is the design, development and production of racing engines and components, acting as a consultant for motorsport clients from all forms of racing. Additionally the business is using its racing expertise to diversify into other areas such as OEM automotive, defence, marine and energy efficient engine applications.