AER picked as Indy Lights engine supplier from 2015 - MotorSportsTalk

Indy Lights’ new car won’t require Fred Flintstone-type peddling to make it go.

Today the series’ new promotions group, Andersen Promotions, confirmed Advanced Engine Research Ltd (AER) as the new engine supplier for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. The contract runs through the 2019 season.

While AER is not known as a manufacturer, it has thrived as an engine builder since launching in 1997. Owned by Rob and Chris Dyson, along with managing director Mike Lancaster, AER’s biggest presence in North America has been in sports car racing. It’s been the source for several P1 and P2-spec Lolas in the American Le Mans Series, and AER-built Mazda engines won the 2011 ALMS P1 class championship with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith driving the team’s Lola coupe.

AER has single-seater experience building the current power units for the World Series by Renault and GP3 Series in Europe.

“This is an exciting opportunity for AER,” said Rob Dyson. “In addition to our successful projects in LMP1 and LMP2 prototype sportscars, the company has extensive experience in single-engine series, including a 3.5-liter V6 for the World Series (by Renault) and the current GP3 Series V6 engines. The opportunity to supply the engines for the Indy Lights series was a very attractive one for us. We look forward to powering the growth of the up and coming open-wheel drivers in North America.”

This version of the engine, the AER-P07, will produce up to 450 horsepower and an additional power-to-pass boost, like its IndyCar brethren, available for driver control. Rebuilds are expected every 6,000 miles, which would reduce the need for an in-season rebuild. The all-aluminum engine has a dry crated weight of 230 lbs. The fully stressed engine features a carbon plenum, carbon inlet runners and trumpets and a “drive-by-wire” throttle control. Advanced engine management electronics have been developed in-house by AER with full active-knock control, ignition-angle learning, advanced boost control and integrated gear-shift strategies employed for ultimate performance.

The potential, too, exists for the engine to be open to badging from interested manufacturers per a RACER report. At the moment though, this is an AER through and through.

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The final results from the Monster Energy Supercross race in Seattle suggests the season is turning into a two-rider battle as Eli Tomac scored his sixth win of the season to tie Cooper Webb for the points’ lead and Chase Sexton crashed in yet another race.

Tomac downplayed the neck strain that caused him to lose the red plate for two weeks, but without that holding him back, it would appear it might have been a bigger problem than he admitted. Despite finishing on the podium in Detroit, Tomac has not shown the late-race strength everyone has come to expect. He was in a slump after scoring a season-worst in Indianapolis and described his sixth win as a “bounce back”.

With this win, Tomac tied James Stewart for second on the all-time list with 50 career Supercross victories. Six rounds remain and there is no sign that Tomac is slowing down. Jeremy McGrath’s 72 wins remains untouchable, for the moment at least.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results

Cooper Webb was disappointed with second-place, but he recognized the Supercross results at Seattle could have been much worse. He rode in fifth for the first nine laps of the race, behind Tomac and Sexton. When Sexton crashed from the lead and Tomac took the top spot, Webb knew he could not afford to give up that many points and so he dug deep and found enough points to share the red plate when the series returns in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona for a Triple Crown event.

Justin Barcia scored his third podium of the season, breaking out of a threeway tie of riders who have not been the presumed favorites to win the championship. Barcia scored the podium without drama or controversy. It was his fourth consecutive top-five and his 10th straight finish of eighth or better.

Click here for 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Jason Anderson kept his perfect record of top-10s alive with a fourth-place finish. Tied for fourth in the standings and 49 out of the lead, his season has been like a death of a thousand cuts. He’s ridden exceptionally well, but the Big Three have simply been better.

Sexton rebounded from his fall to finish fifth. He entered the race 17 points out of the lead and lost another five in Seattle. Mistakes have cost Sexton 22 points in the last three races and that is precisely how far he is behind Tomac and Webb. Unless those two riders bobble, this deficit cannot overcome.

The rider who ties Anderson for fourth in the points, Ken Roczen finished just outside the top five in sixth after he battled for a podium position early in the race.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

The 250 West riders got back in action after four rounds of sitting on the sideline and Jett Lawrence picked up where he left of: in Victory Lane. Lawrence now has four wins and a second-place finish in five rounds. One simply doesn’t get close to perfection than that.

Between them, the Lawrence brothers have won all but two races though 11 rounds. Jett failed to win the Anaheim Triple Crown and Hunter Lawrence failed to win the Arlington Triple Crown format in the 250 East division. In two weeks, the series has their final Triple Crown race in Glendale. When he was reminded of this from the top of the Seattle podium, Jett replied, “oof”.

Click here for 250 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

RJ Hampshire finished second in the race and is second in the points. This is fourth time in five rounds that Hampshire finished second to Lawrence. If not for a crash-induced 11th-place finish in the Arlington Triple Crown, he would be much closer in the points standings. With that poor showing, he is 23 points behind Lawrence.

Cameron McAdoo made a lot of noise in his heat. Riding aggressively beside Larwence, the two crashed in the preliminary. McAdoo could never seem to get away from Hampshire in the Main and as the two battled, the leader got away. It would have been interesting to see how they would have raced head-to-head when points were on the line.

Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points

The Supercross results in Seattle were kind to a couple of riders on the cusp of the top five. Enzo Lopes scored his second top-five and fourth top-10 of the season after crossing the finish line fourth in Seattle.

Tying his best finish of the season for the third time, Max Vohland kept his perfect record of top-10s alive. Vohland is seventh in the points.

2023 Results

Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win