JANUARY 31, 2005

Durand pops up in America

Henri Durand, the former Jordan technical director, has reappeared in racing in the United States as the technical director of Red Bull Cheever Racing in the Indy Racing League.

Henri Durand, the former Jordan technical director, has reappeared in racing in the United States as the technical director of Red Bull Cheever Racing in the Indy Racing League. Durand had been in Formula 1 for more than 20 years, starting out as an aerodynamicist at Ligier before being recruited by Ferrari in 1987. He worked with John Barnard to design the famous 640 chassis but after Barnard departed Durand moved on an joined McLaren, replacing Mike Gascoyne as the head of the aerodynamic team in the middle of 1990. He stayed with the Woking team until the end of 2000 when he moved to Prost Grand Prix to be technical director. After the team ran out of money he moved to Jordan in a similar role in 2002 and 2003. Having dropped from the racing scene for much of 2004 Durand was put into contact with Cheever through the Mecachrome organization which is working in partnership with Cheever and has since taken up residence in Indianapolis. The 44-year-old will oversee the activities of Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier and will use Toyota engines for the first time.