Founded in 1971 by John Judd, the Engine Developments Limited company equipped prototypes entered by Henri Pescarolo's team throughout the 2000s with as best result second place overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005 for Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Erik Comas, and 2006 thanks to Franck Montagny, Eric Hélary and nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.

After an absence of several years from the LMP1 class, Judd is returning, still in collaboration with AIM. The engine, available only as a rental, is set to be an aspirated 5.5-cylinder V10, like the one made available in 2016 that failed to attract any teams, all outfits in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) opting instead to remain loyal to their respective engine suppliers.

This 72-degree engine - lighter than any of Judd's preceding engines - is easier to maintain and is less expensive than a turbo engine, and will benefit from technological innovations relative to its combustion chamber, cooling system, pistons and electronic management. It will also respect the drastic reduction in fuel consumption introduced by the LMP1 technical regulations in effect since 2014.

For now, three projects have been announced for next season: Dallara/BR Engineering, Ginetta (who recently sold its first units) and ByKOLLES, pursuing the development of the CLM P1/01 seen the last few years.

PHOTO (Copyright - Engine Development Ltd.): Judd and AIM's V10 engine available to private LMP1 teams beginning in 2018.