Jaguar Appoint New Sporting Director

Jaguar Racing have announced the appointment of John Hogan as the new sporting director of the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

"We are delighted to have someone of the calibre of John join the team," said Tony Purnell, CEO of Ford's Premier Performance Division. "We have made this decision to improve focus and to streamline commercial operations with the object of providing an even better service to our stakeholders.

"John's arrival marks the completion of our management re-structuring programme. We now have in place all the required personnel at both engineering and commercial level and with that in mind, we have no intention to recruit any more senior management â€" and that includes a team principal."

Hogan, 59, had been retired for ten months, albeit working as an advisor for phone company Vodafone. His last position was with Philip Morris Europe, where he was a vice president of marketing and responsible for event marketing and sponsorship activities on Formula One.

In addition to his role as sporting director, Jaguar said Hogan will also assume all marketing and acquisitions responsibilities in the role of commercial director.

Jaguar also said that Hogan's position at Jaguar Racing "will be outward facing and will include working with commercial partners, media, FIA and Ford Motor Company," while the day-to-day running of the team will remain with managing director David Pitchforth.

Hogan has been involved in Formula One since the 1970s. He engineered the restructuring of McLaren in 1980, bringing in Ron Dennis as managing director, and also initiated Marlboro's first commercial sponsorship deal with current champions Ferrari in 1984.

"It is good to be back in racing on a full time basis and I am looking forward to immediately getting started on the challenge ahead with Jaguar Racing," said Hogan. "The team has undertaken some impressive work over the past few months, particularly on the management re-structuring side and the company's commitment towards turnaround is very evident at all levels of the business.

"I sense some exciting times ahead for Jaguar Racing and my decision to accept the post was also driven by the very committed approach that Ford Motor Company is adopting towards Jaguar in Formula One."