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Jaguar set to announce Rahal at Indy

Bobby Rahal will be confirmed as Jaguar Racing's new team boss at next weekend's United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis

Rahal is expected to leave his current position as acting Chief Executive Officer of CART in November to take on his new role with the Milton Keynes-based team, but is likely to retain ownership of his Ford-powered Champ Car squad.

Sources say that Jaguar Racing's staff will be informed of Rahal's appointment next Monday, with a formal announcement set for Wednesday at Indianapolis.

Jaguar Racing chairman Neil Ressler is tipped to continue in that position, with Rahal slotting in alongside to oversee the day-to-day running of the team. The three-time CART champion has been a revelation in his role as Champ Car's acting CEO, and his hands-on style of management will be key to turning around the struggling Jaguar squad's fortunes.

The Ford-financed team, which was formed from Stewart Grand Prix, has scored just three points so far in its debut season, but has posted 11 retirements.

On the technical side, the team is set to bring in several new names to bolster design chief Gary Anderson. Jaguar is understood to have already signed former Williams man James Robinson as its Chief Operations Engineer and is looking at securing a high-profile designer to work alongside Anderson. Ferrari's Ross Brawn had been top of the wanted list, but is unlikely to be prised away from Maranello in the short term

"We are correcting the problems of this year," said Ressler at Monza. "The decisions we make now will make or break us next year. We've studied very carefully the things that have not worked and implemented corrective action.

"I expect a significant improvement, but I am not going to predict anything too hard as all these other skilled outfits are promising the same thing and doing it.

"I would prefer to call [the staff changes] more like additions," he added, "which is a luxury you can entertain when you are growing."

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