CART’s Rahal taking control of Formula One team

Mike Harris

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS - Bobby Rahal is taking on yet another formidable task - running Jaguar Racing in Formula One.

Rahal will remain CART's interim president and CEO and a team owner until Dec. 1, when he will officially became CEO of the F1 team owned by Ford Motor Company.

The announcement was made Wednesday in a television studio across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500.

Neil Ressler, a longtime Ford executive and now the chairman of Jaguar Racing, Cosworth Racing and Pi, a racing electronics firm, will continue in those roles, but give up the day-to-day operation of the team to Rahal for at least the next three years.

"He's shown himself to understand racing at the top level, to have business acumen, get along well with people, to be a good team builder, to have the type of leadership abilities that will help us greatly at Jaguar," Ressler said.

"Doing it the way we're doing it will allow me to focus on the three companies and it will allow Bobby to focus entirely on running the team. ... That should be a very compatible and mutually advantageous arrangement. This is the first building block. There will be more to come."

Although he has had a long relationship with Ford, Rahal's selection was something of a surprise.

"I'm sure some people might say what do I know about Formula One?" Rahal said. "I think that misses the point to a large degree. This a company whose main task is to enter motor racing events and to win them and to represent Jaguar Cars in a manner in which Jaguar would wish to be represented.

"It's not like I'm creating a race setup. We've got engineers to do that. My task is to take the organization, work with the various components within that organization and to assist in turning it into a winning team."

The team was founded in 1996 as Stewart Racing by former F1 driving star Jackie Stewart and his son, Paul. Starting from scratch, little was expected, but the team matured quickly and showed promise in the second half of last season.

Johnny Herbert gave the team its first victory in the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring and, with Ford on board as the new owner, the newly coined Jaguar Racing finished fourth in the manufacturers' points.

This year, however, the team, with Eddie Irvine and Herbert driving the cars, has struggled to get competitive.

"Believe me I have no illusion about the immensity of this task, irrespective of whether I have Formula One experience in the last few years or not," Rahal said.

The 47-year-old Rahal said he will make a total commitment to the team, moving his family to England.

"I'm ready to take on that challenge," he said. "By moving there, I certainly see that as a sign of my commitment to this effort."

Irvine, on hand to meet his new boss, said, "Bobby's job is to go out to hire the people to get the job done. He's also an ex-driver who can relate to my problems in the race car."

Rahal, 47, made a brief foray into Formula One early in his career, but gained famed in American open-wheel racing, winning 24 races and three championships in 17 seasons in CART before retiring following the 1998 season.

Rahal has been mostly hands-off on the team he co-owns with TV personality David Letterman since taking over the top job at CART in June, replacing deposed Andrew Craig.

Rahal said he never intended to keep the CART job and added, "I regard my role the last three months in CART as getting the company ready for the next CEO, so he can just come in and get on the with the job without having to deal with a lot of the things we've dealt with.

"Team Rahal has excelled without my continuous involvement and is in a position to win the 2000 championship," said Rahal, whose team has rookie Kenny Brack in the midst of the closest championship battle in CART's history. "Knowing that the team can carry on successfully, I have looked for challenges where my involvement will better aid the sport of open-wheel racing."