Ex-Fernandez man joins Andretti

Andretti Autosport has announced the signing of former Fernandez Racing co-owner Tom Anderson as its new senior vice president of racing operations.

Anderson joins the team after Fernandez Racing was forced to close its doors at the conclusion of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season when it became apparent that the LMP2 title winners were unable to secure the sponsorship required for next year.

As well as bringing in Anderson, Andretti Autosport has also named JF Thormann as executive vice president and chief operating officer while John Lopes will now oversee the team's commercial operations.

"We're really excited about the senior management team we've put in place to lead Andretti Autosport," team boss Michael Andretti said. "J-F, John and Tom are all very talented and there is also a very good chemistry among the three of them. We have a great group of employees within Andretti Autosport, and as a management team, our biggest objective is to help those employees do their respective jobs and reach their potential. That will make us successful as a company."

Anderson meanwhile said he was delighted to be joining the team ahead of 2010, marking his return to the IndyCar arena.

"I'm very excited to be joining Andretti Autosport," he said. "This is a great race team with a lot of very good people and I'm looking forward to working with everyone. Our goals are simple; we want to win races and win championships. That's why we're here and that's what we need to focus on every day."