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Derrick Walker (born 8 April 1945 inLeven, Scotland) is a former British auto racing team owner. In May 2013[1] Walker became President of operations and competition ofIndyCar until the finalization of the 2015 Indycar season.
He started in auto racing as a chief mechanic for theBrabhamFormula One team from 1970 to 1975.
WhenPenske left F1, Penske hired Walker as a mechanic. He stayed with Penske in some capacity until 1987. From 1977 until 1980 he was the general manager of Penske Cars' manufacturing facility inPoole, England. He became Penske'sVice President of racing, and watched the team win fourPPG Cups (series championships) and fourIndianapolis 500 races. Some of the most successful American drivers came through the Penske program during that period, includingRick Mears,Bobby Unser,Al Unser Sr. andDanny Sullivan.
In 1988 the lonePorsche Indy Car team suffered a tragic loss with the death of team ownerAl Holbert. Walker took over team management. With driverTeo Fabi, they won theMid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the only one in the storied marque's Indy Car career. When the team went under, Walker purchased their assets, renamed Walker Motorsports.
Walker ranWilly T. Ribbs sporadically until 1994, but enjoyed his best success in the early seasons withScott Goodyear. Goodyear came second toAl Unser Jr. in the1992 Indianapolis 500[2] by 0.043 seconds, the closest finish to date in the race's history, and later won the 1992Michigan 500 for Walker over then-Penske newcomerPaul Tracy. Goodyear andRobby Gordon spent large amounts of time with Walker, with 1996 their last season. Gordon left to pursue a furtherNASCAR career with Goodyear in the newIndy Racing League. Walker hiredGil de Ferran, who came close to winning the 1997 title without winning a single race. He ran a second car forNaoki Hattori andMemo Gidley in 1999 but neither did well. Walker also ran a team in theIndy Racing League forSarah Fisher in 2000 and 2001 with limited success.
In 2000Goodyear, Walker's tire supplier, pulled out of Indy Car racing and moved with de Ferran off toPenske. Walker was forced to hire a pay-driver and found one in F1 refugeeShinji Nakano. Nakano did a fair job, placing better than was expected despite missing a couple of races due to a testing accident.Bryan Herta filled in but was unavailable to run full-time in 2001. Walker hired another Japanese ex-F1 driver inToranosuke Takagi, who brought sponsorship fromPioneer. Takagi stayed two seasons withRodolfo Lavin andDarren Manning, running out-datedReynard chassis in 2003. The team ran a third car forLuis Diaz at Mexico City. Manning scored the team's best result of the year, finishing 2nd in a bizarre race atSurfers Paradise. Unfortunately he left forChip Ganassi Racing and Walker downsized to one car, running a lone Reynard forMario Haberfeld.
Following the 2004 season, Walker sold a share of the team to Australian businessmenCraig Gore and John Fish, rebranding the team asTeam Australia.[3] The team signedAlex Tagliani andMarcus Marshall to run Aussie Vineyards-sponsoredLola chassis for the 2005 season, with Walker remaining at the helm. In late 2005Will Power was drafted in place of Marshall, with the Power/Tagliani combination proving a solid one as the team rises with the added stability and increased funding under the Team Australia relationship.
In 2006 Team Australia established aChamp Car Atlantic Championship team for driversJames Davison andSimon Pagenaud. Walker is also co-owner of Formula BMW USA team Walker Haberfeld Racing, with former Walker driver Mario Haberfeld for drivers Marco Santos and David Rangel.
On 7 April 2007, Walker won his first race as a team owner since 1999. Team Australia'sWill Power won the inaugural Las Vegas GP.