Courtesy of:

        "F1 News" <f1n…@f1rumors.net>

Rahal deal done

 ITV-F1

 ChampCar legend Bobby Rahal is definitely on his way to Formula 1,
taking over as the new team boss at Jaguar next season.

 Rahal was targeted by Jaguar’s owners, Ford, because the team has
had a miserable debut season in Formula 1. The deal is expected to
be announced before the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis this weekend.

 Rahal has no real F1 track record – his only experience of the
sport is two grand prix with Wolf in 1978 – but he is widely
respected as a leader and an organiser. In recent years he has even
been running the ChampCar series as well as his own racing team.

 A triple ChampCar champion, Rahal will help raise the profile of F1
in the US. He has close ties with Ford, who supply engines to his
team, and was seen by company president Jac Nasser as the man to
turn Jaguar around. They have scored just three points all year and
have been dogged by both performance and reliability problems.

 Rahal, 47, is close friends with McLaren technical director Adrian
Newey. Speculation is already mounting that one of his first jobs
will be to persuade the man regarded as F1’s best designer to switch
teams when his contract expires in 2002.

 Rahal will not be the only top ChampCar name to move to F1 ahead of
next season. Reigning champion Juan Pablo Montoya is likely to be
confirmed as a Williams driver this weekend. Team owner Barry Green
is being linked with a move to BAR, who like Jaguar have
underachieved given the resources at their disposal.
—
                j a m e s

Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
                        — Gilbert Keith Chesterton