John Judd

John Judd, known for leading Engine Developments Ltd was born in 1942 in Coventry. He is a successful Formula One Engineer from England. He is known for his established partnership – One with Sir Jack Brabham who had won the F1 World Champion three times. After leaving school at a young age, Judd got signed as an employee of the engine company Coventry. The company gave Judd his first job.He later studied at a local college with the help of a scholarship. After gaining some experience from his job as well as school, he began working on the Coventry Climax Formula 1 Engine in the early 1960s which got used by Jack Brabham. Brabham then decided to shift from Coventry and Judd was later brought along by Brabham when he left Coventry to Repco. 

There Judd was hired to work with Phil Irving who was an engine designer. Judd worked with Irving who was working towards building a 3-litre engine for Brabham which resulted in 2 drivers championships. He also won 2 constructor championships. Judd along with Brabham shifted once again. This time from Repco to Ford DFV engines built by Cosworth and hence Judd worked towards its development. A new engine was founded when the Brabham team sold to Bernie Ecclestone and then when they decided to launch a new project. This included an engine development project and thus a new company formed. This resulted in Engine Developments Ltd with Judd at the head.

With Judd as the boss, Engines Developments Ltd became the manufacturers of Judd Engines. The company then prepared various engines for teams like Williams, Arrows, Lotus, Ensign and Fittipaldi. Judd has also worked towards developing an engine for Honda for their return to Formula Two. Various partnerships then followed after Judd’s successes with companies such as Yamaha to create engines for Formula 1. He created engines for Williams and Ligier for the 1988 season.

They had a deal with Scuderia Italia where they supplied v10 engines in 1991. In the early years of the 21st Century, Judd and his company had a role to play in the winning of Le Mans Series, and they even secured the second place. The position was obtained in the championship of the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2002 along with the help of Doran. Judd was the reason behind the collaboration with Ray Mallock Ltd which led to the securing of the XV675, one of its successes, winning the LMP2.