Ilmor Acquires Scorpion Racing Engines

Completing a deal that reportedly has been in negotiations for several months, Ilmor Marine in Plymouth, Mich., has reached an agreement to purchase Scorpion Racing Engines in nearby Livonia. While Ilmor has made significant inroads into the high-performance powerboat market with its V-10 engine products since it was founded in 2002, the company has been unable to enter the offshore racing world under the current technical specifications of Super Boat International.

With the acquisition of Scorpion Racing Engines, Ilmor Marine (show here exhibiting at the recent Miami Boat Show) will enter offshore racing.

“The way the rules are written, there is no entry point for us with the V-10 unless we want to run in Superboat Unlimited class, and we simply don’t have the power,” said Paul Ray, president of Ilmor Marine. “Buying Scorpion Racing Engines gives us the opportunity we’ve always wanted to get into offshore racing in the States.

“We will now be a player in domestic offshore boat racing—we were already a player in endurance powerboat racing in the European racing scene,” he added. “This gives us a great opportunity to get involved and get serious about offshore racing.”

Several notable offshore racing teams in the rapidly expanding Superboat-class field such as Broadco, STIHL, Instigator, Cleveland Construction and Spirit of Qatar 20 currently use Scorpion Power. Ray emphasized that the commitment to quality and service will not change with the acquisition.

“Phil Harper, Scorpion’s majority owner and engine builder, will be joining Ilmor and working closely with our existing marine build team,” Ray said. “We welcome Phil and Marc Pritula to our team Ilmor. With our extensive engineering resources and engine-building expertise, we think we can bring a lot to the table. We aren’t just going to put an Ilmor stamp on it. We are going to put our full resources behind it.”

Ilmor will absorb Scorpion Racing production into its own engine-building operations and facility.