Jay O’Connell has joined Rahal Letterman Racing as Technical Director. O’Connell will oversee all aspects of RLR’s engineering department and programs.

“Jay is someone I have known and respected for a longtime,” said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. “His track record of success is well documented, and I felt a chance to bring someone of his experience and stature into our team was an opportunity to significantly strengthen our operation. I think the addition of Jay to our engineering staff will prove to be one of our most beneficial moves of the off season.”

O’Connell brings a wealth of engineering experience in and out of motorsports to the team. He has worked on multiple projects with the Ford Motor Company, most recently as a SVT Chief Vehicle Engineer where he oversaw 25 engineers working on the 2007 Shelby GT500 and the 2006 Ford GT.

“I am really excited to work with Bobby again and leverage my background in open wheel and sports car racing,” O’Connell said. “I am looking forward to leading the talented group of engineers at Rahal Letterman Racing to become an even more engineering driven organization.”

O’Connell has previously worked with Jaguar Racing Formula 1 as Research and Development Department Manager and was the Ford Racing CART Program Manager from 1998-2001. He has significant sports car experience most recently having redesigned the Panoz LMGT2 chassis, which won the 12 Hours of Sebring.

“The level of competition in the IndyCar Series has been raised to a high level,” said Scott Roembke, chief operating officer of Rahal Letterman Racing. “Our foremost priority in this off season is to increase our competitiveness. The addition of Jay to our current engineering staff is a big step towards meeting our goals.”