Mike Gascoyne has been appointed Caterham Group Chief Technical Officer (CTO) with immediate effect.

According to the press release, the move... "reflects the ongoing evolution of the Caterham Group, and its determination to continue to develop and provide new opportunities for its staff at all levels, Mike will now be responsible for proposing, supporting and coordinating key technical initiatives in Caterham Group's motorsport activities (F1 and GP2), Caterham Cars, Caterham Composites and Caterham Technology & Innovation. He will report directly to Caterham Group CEO Riad Asmat and will coordinate overall strategic technical projects across each of the Caterham Group companies.

As a result of Gascoyne's increased responsibility across Caterham Group, Mark Smith, Caterham F1 Team Technical Director, will now lead the F1 team's technical division day to day and will increase his presence at races throughout the 2012 season. Gascoyne will continue to attend races in 2012, adding his wealth of experience and knowledge to the team when it is required.

"This is a very proud moment for me," said Gascoyne. "Tony, Kamarudin, Nasa and Riad have established Caterham Group as a serious force for future development in a number of very exciting sectors. My new role will now give me the chance to help drive value across the whole group through the creation and delivery of new projects in all the sectors we are already working in, and opening up new opportunities for each of the Group's companies to embrace.

"Mark Smith is exactly the right person to step up to the broader role he will now be taking on in the F1 team, and I am looking forward to working even more closely with Mark Edwards at Caterham Technology & Innovation, Phil Hall at Caterham Composites and Ansar Ali at Caterham Cars. This is a big challenge but one I am extremely excited about and I want to thank our shareholders for this opportunity."

"We are all delighted that Mike has taken up the challenge we have presented him, to lead technical direction across the whole Caterham Group," said Tony Fernandes. "His experience, knowledge, enthusiasm and creativity give him the perfect skill set to help us achieve the ambitious goals we have set for all the group companies, and I know Mike is excited about what lies ahead."