Caterham taps Renault-Geely’s Horse for new Academy racer engine
Joint venture company’s 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine drafted in to replace retired Ford Sigma unit
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by Felix Page
2 mins read
9 April 2025
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Caterham will use a new engine from Horse Powertrain, a joint venture of Renault and Geely, in its Academy race cars from next year.
The new HR13 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, producing 130bhp and 130lb ft at 5150rpm, has been drafted in to replace the retired 1.6-litre Ford Sigma unit, which has powered the Caterham Academy series since 2008.
No financial terms of the deal have been announced.
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Caterham dropped the Sigma-powered Seven 270 and Super Seven models in 2021 when that engine went out of production and now uses a 660cc Suzuki engine and a 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine for its road cars.
Caterham’s Academy racers are road-legal, but it hasn’t said whether it plans to use the Horse engine in its other customer cars.
Horse is a manufacturer of combustion and hybrid powertrains, established around a year ago as a joint venture by Renault and Geely, with Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco claiming a 10% shareholding.
Caterham is only the second car maker outside of the Geely and Renault groups to sign a powertrain supply deal with Horse, following Brazilian start-up Lecar, which announced last year plans to use the company’s three-cylinder engine as the basis for a range-extender powertrain in its debut model, the 459 Híbrido.
The HR13 engine will be used from 2026 in the Caterham Academy series, which since its foundation in 1995 has introduced more than 1400 new drivers to competitive motorsport, according to Caterham.
Caterham CEO Bob Laishley said: “We’re very pleased to confirm our new partnership with Horse Technologies and look forward to working with their team on the introduction of this new turbo engine to our competitive rookie series from next season.”
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