Coughlan goes back to NASCAR

Williams’s recently departed Technical Director Mike Coughlan has a new job in NASCAR, as technical director of Richard Childress Racing. He will work alongside Mark McArdle, who is the director of race operations and will report to Dr Eric Warren, who is the team’s director of competition.

Coughlan has been involved in racing since he left university in 1981. He worked initially with Tiga Race Cars before joining the Lotus F1 team in 1984. Six years later he became one of John Barnard’s design team that designed cars for Benetton in 1991 and then after a secret project for Toyota, was involved with Ferrari until 1997. The operation later became known as B3 Technologies and began working with Arrows in 1998 and Coughlan stayed on with the Leafield team after the deal with Barnard broke down and remained at Arrows until it closed down in 2002. He then moved to McLaren. In 2007 he left McLaren amid accusations of espionage. He left the sport and designed military vehicles, notably the Ocelot armoured car, and then went to work for Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR, an experience he enjoyed greatly. However, when he was offered the job to head the Williams technical team in 2011 he jumped at the chance and led the design team of the FW34 that gave the team its first victory for years at the Spanish GP last year. This year’s car was not a success and Coughlan departed the team in July.