Malcolm Oastler

Who is Malcolm Oastler?

Malcolm Oastler is the former technical director of Formula One team BAR, former chief engineer for Jaguar Racing, and designer of many race cars.

Oastler was born in Sydney, Australia. A keen motorsport enthusiast and driver from a young age, he earned a first class honours degree in mechanical engineering from the New South Wales University of Technology. Oastler embarked on a driving career in the early 1980s, and was particularly successful in the Australian Formula Ford championship. Deciding to try his luck in the European motorsport scene, Oastler relocated to England in 1985, but without any real financial back found it very tough to campaign in any series there.

He was working as a mechanic for Milldent Motorsport in Leicestershire in exchange for part time drives in British Formula Ford 2000 when his engineering talents were recognised and he joined the Reynard company as a designer. Oastler was responsible for many designs at Reynard in racing categories such as Formula Ford, Formula Ford 2000, Formula 3000 and IndyCar. Oastler's Reynard design for the first Formula 3000 series was especially strong, and his chassis design went on to win five international titles. After the Formula 3000 success, Oastler led the IndyCar design from the start of the project. His Reynard 95I chassis went on to win eight races in total, including the Indy 500 and started from pole position no less than thirteen times.