John Dick has returned to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as the head of research and development for the IndyCar Series program. He replaces Gerry Hughes, who recently returned to England.
Dick was the race engineer for Team Rahal driver Max Papis in 2001, and the combination produced two victories and one pole.
“Its great to have John back with the team,” co-owner Bobby Rahal said. “His experience and knowledge is a great complement to the existing staff we have assembled with race engineers Bill Pappas and Eddie Jones. John is a key element to our plan to expand our technical department and will oversee testing and development.”
Dick, who spent the past two IndyCar Series seasons at Dale Coyne Racing, began his racing career in the early 1980s working on successful Trans-Am and IMSA GTP programs before moving to CART in 1987 with Shierson Racing as race engineer. The team's Domino's Pizza-sponsored car, with Arie Luyendyk behind the wheel, won the 1990 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. At Detroit last year, Dick was the race engineer for race winner Mike Conway.
Pappas moved from Dale Coyne Racing to RLL in December to be the race engineer for the No. 15 car driven by Graham Rahal.
“I am looking forward to this coming season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” Dick said. “We will face challenges but with the talented group of engineers, mechanics and staff I know we will be able to meet them. Some of the best brains in the business are here at RLL and working hard with them will be really satisfying. I know success will be just a matter of time and Graham will be the final important ingredient.”