![]() ![]() ‘I wanted it to be the smallest, lightest and most efficient sportscar engine out there…’ says Allan, ‘…and one that fitted into a smaller space than anything else and one that structurally used the metal in it more efficiently. Plugging that gap with a lightweight, small, efficient unit incorporating F1 technology would have been a relatively straightforward task for a manufacturer-backed concern, but to deliver a cost-effective powerplant capable of taking on the ALMS’ big guns and yet remaining affordable to independents proved more of a juggling act. LMP1 racing is dominated by ex F3000-based motors and down tuned Ind圜ar engines or, as AER’s managing director Mike Lancaster puts it, ‘Old Formula 1 engines… but they’re big, heavy and not very fuel efficient, so we saw a potential gap in the market.’ What makes the story behind the new engine all the more remarkable is the fact that the new AER V8 ALMS engine was designed and built from scratch in just nine months by a small team lead by Oliver Allan, technical director of AER, who previously worked at Ilmor. ![]() Pre-season testing had also proven the new units’ power when at Paul Ricard it provided enough urge to clock the fastest top speed along the Mistral straight, fitted in the Synergy Lola. With just 29 employees, AER is Minnow-like in comparison to the likes of Audi Sport, but a combination of the new V8 and a decent chassis has the potential to become a real threat to the Audi TDI-mounted opposition.Įarlier in the year, at Sebring, an AER-equipped Dyson Lola BO6/10 qualified a mere 3.8 seconds behind the oil-burner, only a late lap suspension problem keeping the team from a well-deserved podium on the engines’ promising, but frustrating, LMP1 race debut. The company behind the project is UK-based Advanced Engine Research, a firm with a great track record, but with even more ambitious plans to shake up the sportscar establishment in 2006. And so, given the disparate nature of the two discipline’s technical requirements, it’s all the more interesting that a new, independently designed, 3.6-litre, twin turbo V8 sportscar engine incorporating grand prix-style technology is starting to deliver real results in the LMP1 category of the ALMS and LMES. Three, 12 or 24-hour races, a variety of different drivers per car and balancing the need to go quickly with the desire for reliability are all important. Endurance racing brings its own set of unique challenges for engine designers that make F1’s two races per motor rule look tame in comparison. ![]()
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