VETERAN ENGINEER TOM GERMAN JOINS RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AS AN ENGINEERING CONSULTANT

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (December 6, 2016) – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that respected engineer Tom German has joined the team as an engineering consultant in a multi-year deal. In addition to other notable successes, German has participated in three Indy car championships and one in the NASCAR Nationwide series while with Penske Racing as well as five Indy 500 wins, most recently as 2016 winner Alexander Rossi’s race engineer.

“We are very pleased to welcome Tom to our team.” said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. “His record speaks volumes and I have no doubt having Tom work in conjunction with Eddie Jones, Martin Pare, Mike Talbott and Alex Farina will generate much success for all of our drivers, now and in the future.”

In 2016, RLL driver Graham Rahal was a major factor in two of the most exciting races of the Verizon IndyCar Series season — the Honda Indy at Barber Motorsports Park where he finished second to eventual champion Simon Pagenaud, and in the Firestone 600, where he won by the closest margin of victory at Texas Motor Speedway and fifth closest in INDYCAR series history. For the second consecutive year, Rahal ended the season as the highest-ranked Honda-powered driver in fifth place after a total of four podium finishes and eight, top-five finishes.

“I have known Mr. Rahal for a number of years and am impressed with his ability to attract and retain quality people,” said Tom German. “This vision is yielding results; Graham and the team have led the Honda contingent for the past two seasons and established themselves as championship contenders. I appreciate the opportunity to join the team.”

About Tom German
German earned a master’s degree from The MIT Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Akron. He started his professional racing career at Bridgestone/Firestone in June 1992 through August 1994. German spent the next three years at Patrick Racing before beginning his 14-year stint at Penske Racing from October 1997 through June 2011 where he ultimately held the top technical positions for the INDYCAR and NASCAR teams. During this time, he participated in three Indy car championships (2001-2002 – de Ferran, 2006 – Hornish) and one in NASCAR (2010 – Keselowski) as well as four Indy 500 wins (2001-2002 – Castroneves, 2003 – de Ferran, 2006 – Hornish). He was the chief technical officer at Michael Waltrip Racing for 2013-2014 and most recently, German was a consultant and race engineer at Andretti Autosport for Alexander Rossi’s 2016 Indy 500 and Rookie of the Year-winning program. German is currently the founder and president of ELEVEN (https://elevenbike.com), a custom mountain bike brand based in North Carolina.

About Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and Brownsburg, Ind., is co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan. In 2017 the team will compete in their 26th year of open wheel competition and attempt to add to their 23 wins – including the 2004 Indy 500 from pole with Buddy Rice — their 29 poles, 91 podium finishes and 1992 series championship. The team also competed in the American Le Mans Series from 2009-2013 as BMW Team RLL where they won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category in 2010 and swept all three GT titles in 2011 – Manufacturer, Team and Driver. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championship. In 2014, BMW Team RLL moved to the GTLM class of the United SportsCar Championship with a two-car program and earned six podium finishes including four second-place finishes. In 2015, the team earned three wins, two poles and a total of eight podiums to finish second in the Manufacturer, Team and Driver championships and in 2016, BMW Team RLL added two poles and three podiums with their BMW M6 GTLM entries to bring their current total to 13 wins, 22 poles and 60 podium finishes.