Peter Elleray
Born (1958-06-30) 30 June 1958
NationalityBritish
Alma materCollingwood College, Durham[1]
Occupation(s)Chief designer at Racing Technology Norfolk. (1998-2003),
currently Design and Development Consultant[2]
Known for24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula One race car designer
Websitehttp://uk.linkedin.com/pub/peter-elleray/34/254/205

Peter Elleray (born 30 June 1958) is an English engineer and race car designer particularly known for designing the Bentley Speed 8 race car.[3][4] Elleray, who worked for Racing Technologies Norfolk (RTN), also designed the Audi R8C and the British Radical SR9.[5] On 14 September 2007, his involvement was announced in the design of the WF01-Zytek for Embassy Racing,[5] which had a best finish of 4th in its LMP2 category at the 1000 km of Nürburgring during the 2008 Le Mans Series season.[6]

Biography

Elleray attended Hutton Grammar School before earning a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics from Durham University in 1979.[7] After spending several years in the aerospace field, Elleray took a job with Tyrrell Racing in 1982 analyzing ground effect tunnels. In 1983 and 1984, he was involved with amateur racing teams before being employed as a designer and race engineer by Arrows F1. In 1999, he became Chief Designer for Bentley's prototype program.[7]

Designing the Bentley Speed 8

According to Elleray, he had the basic ideas for the Bentley Speed 8 even before launching the design work in August 2001 with Gene Varnier, the assistant chief designer on the project.[8] By 2003, the vehicle had evolved to accommodate a change from Dunlop tires to Michelin tires and also to adapt the front diffuser to the doored-coupe design.[8] The Los Angeles Times praised Elleray's design as exhibiting a "kind of inexpressible British flair and beauty."[9] The car received the Autosport Racing Car of the Year Award for 2003, the first non-F1 car for 14 years to win the award, breaking Ferrari's streak.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/peter-elleray/34/254/205
  2. ↑ "Peugeot905Evo2".
  3. ↑ "Car and Driver". 49. Ziff-Davis. 2003: 131. The man behind the new Speed 8 — actually, all four generations of the car — is RTN chief designer Peter Elleray. A proper English engineer with a degree from the University of Durham, Elleray designed the first prototype Speed 8 in 2000. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ Fuller, Michael J. (2004). "Peter Elleray on the Bentley LMGTP". mulsannescorner.com. Retrieved 15 May 2009. I was employed as a design and race engineer.
  5. 1 2 "Embassy's Grand Plan". dailysportscar.com. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  6. ↑ "1000km of Nürburgring Timing". Le Mans Series. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  7. 1 2 Fuller, Michael J. (2004). "Peter Elleray on the Bentley LMGTP". mulsannescorner.com. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  8. 1 2 Lis, Alan (2003). "Peter Elleray & Gene Varnier - On The 2003 Bentley Speed 8". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Neil, Dan (17 December 2003). "Leader of the track: VW put its power behind Bentley at Le Mans". Los Angeles Times. p. G.1. Retrieved 15 May 2009. ...a British car, designed by RTN chief designer Peter Elleray, with a kind of inexpressible British flair and beauty.
  10. ↑ "Le Mans Bentley wins AUTOSPORT Award". Autosport. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "Racing Car: Bentley Speed 8". Autosport. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
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