Paul Morgan (engineer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Jonathan Morgan (born July 29, 1948 in Birmingham , † May 12, 2001 in Sywell , Northamptonshire ) was a British engineer and co-founder of the engine manufacturer Ilmor .

Career

Morgan grew up as the son of a managing director of an automotive supplier company. As a teenager he restored old cars in his spare time. When he was 19, he began studying mechanical engineering at Aston University in Birmingham, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 .

From 1970 to 1983, Morgan worked as a racing engine developer at Cosworth in Northampton . He was responsible for the DFX engine, which was developed as a turbo engine for the Indycar series on the basis of the DFV engine known from Formula 1 . This engine dominated the racing series in the 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1984 Morgan left Cosworth to found the Ilmor company together with the Swiss engineer and engine developer Mario Illien , who had worked with Cosworth on the DFX engine since 1979 . While Illien was responsible for engine development in the new company, Morgan was responsible for production. Funded by Roger Penske and Chevrolet , Morgan and Illien developed an engine for the US CART series , which first ran in August 1985. In 1986 two pole positions could be achieved and in 1987 Ilmor celebrated the first of a total of 86 victories between 1987 and 1993 with Mario Andretti's victory at the race in Long Beach .

In 1989 Ilmor began developing a 3.5-liter V10 engine for Formula 1. The Leyton House Racing team first used the engine in 1991. In 1992, Ilmor received an order from Mercedes-Benz to develop an engine for the Sauber team . At the end of 1993, Mercedes bought the shares Chevrolet held in Ilmor . The engine was now called Mercedes and has been used by McLaren since 1995 .

Paul Morgan died on May 12, 2001 while landing in a Hawker Sea Fury , a propeller fighter aircraft from the Second World War, in Sywell, England. The day after Morgan's death, David Coulthard won the Austrian Grand Prix in a McLaren with a Mercedes-Ilmor engine.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Morgan, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morgan, Paul Jonathan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British engineer and company founder
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 2001
Place of death Sywell , Northamptonshire