| Nationality |  Swiss |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | August 2, 1949 |
| Place of birth | Chur, Switzerland |
Mario Illien is an engineer specialising in motorsport engine design and comes from Chur in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Graubünden or Grisons ( German:, gʁaʊˈbyndən Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Despite living in a country in which motor racing was banned in 1955 (when Mario was six years old), he developed an interest in the sport during the 1960s while following the career of Jo Bonnier, a Swedish expatriate living in Switzerland. Joakim "Jo" Bonnier ( January 31 1930 - June 11 1972) was a Swedish Sportscar racing and Formula One
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Education
Prior to embarking on his motorsport engineering career, Illien trained as a technical draughtsman. He later returned to education to study for a degree in mechanical engineering at Biel University’s School of Engineering . He graduated in 1976[1] and resumed his engineering career.
Early career
Illien took his first motorsport-related job with his idol Bonnier in 1971, assisting with the preparation of an old customer McLaren chassis. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK When Bonnier was killed in a Lola T280 at Le Mans in 1972, Illien was hired by Fred Stalder to modify a four-cylinder Chrysler-Simca for use in a Le Mans prototype run by Stalder's Racing Organisation Course team. Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a Racing car Engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon The 24 Hours of Le Mans ( 24 Heures du Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 Simca redirects here for other uses of that term see SIMCA (disambiguation. It was later used in Formula 2 in the mid-1970s, but by that time, Illien had left Stalder’s employ and enrolled at Biel. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing.
After his graduation, his career moved away from motorsport and into military engineering. He joined Mowag (now owned by General Dynamics) in Kreuzlingen, designing diesel engines for armoured vehicles. MOWAG is a Swiss company which develops designs and produces armoured vehicles for military applications in both land-only and amphibious configurations General Dynamics Corporation ( is a defense conglomerate formed by Mergers and Divestitures and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest Defense contractor Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
During his time at Mowag, Illien maintained his interest in motorsport. In 1979, at the age of 30, he gave up his job and moved to the UK to work in the design department of Cosworth Engineering in Northampton. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Cosworth is an Automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958 specialising in engines for automobile racing (motorsport He spent five years at Cosworth, contributing to the design and development of the company's racing engines, including the DFY V8. It was at Cosworth that Illien met Paul Morgan and the next stage of his career began. Paul Morgan is the name of the following people Paul Morgan (engineer, British engineer Paul Morgan (footballer, Northern Irish association
Ilmor Engineering
In 1983, Illien and Morgan were working on the Cosworth DFX for the Indycar World Series, but identified a demand for a more competitive alternative. Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in 1984 is a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company The X3 (also known as the X3) is an 800 cc V4 race bike built by Ilmor Engineering to compete in the 2007 Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades primarily for use in the Indianapolis The two men initiated their project in 1984 and contacted Roger Penske for assistance. Roger Penske (born February 20, 1937 in Shaker Heights Ohio) is the owner of the automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Penske found them financial backing from General Motors and the four parties each took a 25% share in a new company – Ilmor Engineering – with Morgan looking after the manufacturing and commercial side of the business and Illien in charge of the design work. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. By 1986, Ilmor was competing in Indycars.
In 1989, it was decided that Ilmor should enter Formula 1, for which development of a 3. 5l V10 got underway. Ilmor supplied Leyton House in 1991 and Tyrrell in 1992. Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons Lower Formulae (1958 - 1967 Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958 running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell and local stars By 1993, it had formed a partnership with Mercedes-Benz to supply Sauber in its debut season. Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury Automobiles Buses coaches and Trucks It is currently a division of the Sauber is a Swiss constructor of racing cars for Sportscar racing and Formula One.
Ilmor continued as Mercedes' engine builder when it joined McLaren in 1995, which eventually brought Ilmor its first Grand Prix win in 1997, followed by the kind of championship-winning success that it had achieved in the United States. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK
Shortly after Morgan's death in 2001, Mercedes increased its managerial involvement, purchased a 55% share and renamed the company Mercedes-Ilmor. Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines Ltd (previously known as Mercedes-Ilmor) is an English -based Formula One engine manufacturer owned by Mercedes-Benz When Mercedes' parent company, DaimlerChrysler, purchased the remaining share in 2005, Illien and Penske retained the Special Projects division, which has built Honda's IRL engines since 2003. Daimler AG ( (formerly DaimlerChrysler AG) is a German car corporation (not to be confused with the British car-maker Daimler Motor Company) and () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based Open-wheel racing series. Now functioning as an independent engine builder again, Illien has taken his company into Moto GP with the X3 project. Overview A Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix was first organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM in 1949 The X3 (also known as the X3) is an 800 cc V4 race bike built by Ilmor Engineering to compete in the 2007
Personal life
Illien has a son named Luca.
References
- ^ McLaren 2004 Press Pack
External links
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