Farrell appointed as Chief Engineer at Subaru.

The 555 Subaru World Rally Team announced today that Steve Farrell has been appointed as Chief Engineer.

In this new role Farrell will manage the 555 SWRT engineering department as well as lead the design and development programmes.

Farrell, who was previously Chief Engineer for the British American Racing Formula One team, will start at the Banbury-based Subaru team on September 2nd.

In a motorsport career that spans almost 20 years, Farrell has worked in many different forms of racing with some of the most respected names in the business.

After moving to the UK from his native Australia in 1983, he ran his own Formula Ford team but soon progressed to the World Sports Car Championship and among many achievements, was responsible for the Silk Cut Jaguar team's famous 2-3-4 performance at Le Mans in 1991.

In 1993 he switched disciplines to touring cars, working with Ray Mallock Ltd and, from 1993 to 1995, with Prodrive and the Alfa Romeo British Touring Car programme. In 1997 he was back at Le Mans, this time with the Nissan R390 GT1 car. His most recent move came in 1998 when he joined BAR as Chief Engineer with responsibility for the technical operations of the race and test team.

"I'm very excited to be returning to Prodrive and the 555 SWRT," said Farrell. "World Championship Rallying has all the right ingredients for me, both technical and personal. Like Formula One, it is becoming increasingly competitive year on year, and the challenges involved to stay in front of the opposition are great. I am familiar with many of the team from my previous time at Prodrive, which makes my move all the more pleasurable."

Commenting on Farrell's appointment, 555 Subaru Team Principal David Lapworth commented: "We're very happy that Steve is making a return to Prodrive. The position of Chief Engineer is a critical one for us, and we've put a lot of effort into finding the right person for the job. Steve's got a wealth of experience in all types of motorsport and the necessary blend of technical credibility and man management skills to build on the strengths of our existing team."