Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal

Former Champ Car driver
Name = Bobby Rahal


Nationality = flagicon|USA American
Years = 1982 - 1998
Team(s) = Truesports (1982-1988)
Kraco (1989)
Galles-Kraco (1990-1991)
Rahal-Hogan (1992-1995)
Team Rahal (1996-1998)
Races = 264
Championships = 3 (1986, 1987, 1992)
Wins = 24
Podiums = 88
Poles = 18
First race = 1982 Kraco Car Stereo 150 (Phoenix)
First win = 1982 Budweiser Cleveland 500
Last win = 1992 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix (Nazareth)
Last race = 1998 Marlboro 500 (Fontana)

Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal (born January 10, 1953 in Medina, Ohio) is an American auto racing team owner and former driver, spending most of his driving career in the CART open-wheel series, winning three championships there. He has won the Indianapolis 500 as both a driver and an owner.

As a driver, Rahal raced in Formula 1 and CART, including owning the team he drove for during most of his career. That team is now known as Rahal Letterman Racing. After retiring as a driver, Rahal held managerial positions with the Jaguar Formula 1 team and also was an interim president of the CART series. Rahal also made one NASCAR start for the Wood Brothers.

Rahal currently lives in New Albany, Ohio.

Car owner

He is co-owner of Rahal Letterman Racing, in partnership with David Letterman, who became a minority owner in 1996. The team, originally known as Rahal-Hogan Racing, was formed, in 1992, after Rahal and partner Carl Hogan acquired the assets to the former Pat Patrick Racing team in late 1991. The name changed to Team Rahal when Hogan left to form his own team. It changed its name again to Rahal Letterman Racing in May 2004. The team won the title for Rahal in 1992, making him the last owner-driver to win the IndyCar title, and the last driver to win a race in his own car until Adrian Fernandez did so in 2003. The team was consistently successful in the series until 2003, Kenny Bräck finishing as rookie of the year in 2000 and championship runner-up in 2001. In 2003, they first entered an IRL car, and have focused on this series since 2004.

In 2000, Rahal joined the Jaguar Formula One team in a managerial capacity. During this time, Rahal attempted to hire championship-winning aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, briefly believing that the deal had been completed. However, Rahal was sacked after reportedly attempting to sell driver Eddie Irvine to rivals Jordan.Fact|date=October 2007 Ironically, the team fired Irvine little more than a year after firing Rahal.

Rahal was the interim President and CEO of CART for six months during the 2000 season.

NSX involvement

Rahal's IndyCar team used Honda engines in the early 1990s. He was one of only three top-level race car drivers to have provided vital inputs to the Honda NSX's final development (along with McLaren-Honda Formula One driver Ayrton Senna and Japanese F1 Driver Satoru Nakajima). Rahal's NSX testing was conducted at Laguna Seca Racetrack in California, while Senna and Nakajima were called in to fine-tune the car at Suzuka Circuit in Japan, with the Japanese spending more time in the driver's seat than the Brazilian. NSX chief engineer Shigeru Uehara and his team were physically present at the track alongside Rahal to oversee and proactively fine-tune the car's handling.Fact|date=February 2007

Race results

Complete Formula One results

()

Indy 500 results

Bobby Rahal Automotive Group

The Bobby Rahal Automotive Group sells and services Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Scion, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover, and BMW cars through its dealerships in western and central Pennsylvania.

Awards

*Rahal was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994.
*He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2004.

Other family members in auto racing

Rahal's son, Graham Rahal, finished 2nd in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Championship season. After running the final two races for the Lebanon A1 Grand Prix team in the 2005-2006 season, he raced a partial season for Lebanon in the 2006-07 season. The Rahal family is of Lebanese ancestry. Graham Rahal currently races for the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team which recently joined the Indy Racing League due to the merger between Champ Car and the IRL. Graham, a rookie in the IRL, won the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Florida on 06 April 2008. At 19, he is the youngest driver to win an IRL race.

External links

* [http://www.rahal.com/ Rahal Letterman Racing website]
* [http://www.bobbyrahal.com/index.htm Rahal's site]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bobby Rahal — Automobil /Formel 1 Weltmeisterschaft Nation: Vereinigte Staaten …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bobby Rahal — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Bobby Rahal Robert Bobby Woodward Rahal (10 de enero de 1953, Medina, Ohio, Estados Unidos) es un ex piloto de automovilismo y actual dueño del equipo Rahal Letterman Racing. Su hijo Graham Rahal también compite en… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Bobby Rahal — Robert Woodward Rahal (plus connu sous le nom de Bobby Rahal) (né le 10 janvier 1953 à Medina dans l Ohio) est un ancien pilote automobile américain, désormais reconverti en tant que directeur d écurie. Biographie Bobby Rahal à Laguna Seca en… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Rahal Letterman Racing — (RLR) is an auto racing team that currently races in the IndyCar Series. It is co owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and television talk show host and comedian David Letterman and is based in Hilliard, Ohio.CART IndyCar World… …   Wikipedia

  • Rahal — may refer to:*Bashar Rahal/ Christian Rahal (born 1974), actor, currently living in Los Angeles, California. Related to Bobby Rahal *Bobby Rahal (born 1953), former race car driver mainly known for American open wheel racing including the… …   Wikipedia

  • Rahal-Hogan Racing — Rahal Reynard Ford aus der Champ Car Serie Rahal Letterman Racing ist ein Motorsport Team der IndyCar Series, welches der US Motorsportlegende Bobby Rahal und TV Moderator David Letterman gehört. Das Team entstand 1992 in der damaligen IndyCar… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rahal Letterman Racing — Rahal Reynard Ford aus der Champ Car Serie Rahal Letterman Racing ist ein Motorsport Team der IndyCar Series, welches der US Motorsportlegende Bobby Rahal und TV Moderator David Letterman gehört. Das Team entstand 1992 in der damaligen IndyCar… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Rahal Letterman Racing — es un equipo de automovilismo con sede en Hilliard, Ohio, Estados Unidos. A fines de 1991, Bobby Rahal y Carl Hogan compraron lo activos del equipo Patrick Racing de la Champ Car y fundaron Rahal Hogan Racing para inicios de la temporada 1992. El …   Wikipedia Español

  • Rahal-Letterman Racing — ou simplement RLR (anciennement Rahal Hogan Racing puis Team Rahal) est une écurie de sport automobile qui évolue dans le championnat IndyCar Series. Fondée et dirigée par l ancien pilote Bobby Rahal, elle est également en partie détenue par l… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Rahal Letterman Racing — ou simplement RLR (anciennement Rahal Hogan Racing puis Team Rahal) est une écurie de sport automobile qui évolue dans le championnat IndyCar Series. Fondée et dirigée par l ancien pilote Bobby Rahal, elle est également en partie détenue par l… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”