16/11/2018
NEWS STORY
Renault has announced that Thierry Koskas (right) is appointed President of Renault Sport Racing, replacing Jerome Stoll. He will report directly to Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Renault.
According to the French manufacturer, following a season marked by the progress of the Renault F1 team, which looks set to take fourth in the constructor standings, Koskas will aim to continue with Cyril Abiteboul the work started by Stoll and bring the team to the highest level of the discipline. He will also ensure that F1's contribution to Renault's brand awareness worldwide is strengthened.
Koskas graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris. After seven years as a civil servant, working in Ministry of Industry and as advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, he joined Renault in 1997 as Manager of the New Distribution project.
In 1998, he was named General Manager of Renault London City Branch, and in 2000 as Managing Director of Renault Hungary. In 2002, he returned to Renault headquarters as Vice President of Sales Forecasting and Programming. In 2006, he was appointed as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Asia and Africa Region; and in 2009, he was named Program Director, Electric Vehicles, where he led the development of Renault’s zero emission line. Thierry Koskas has been in charge of operations of Renault in Argentina since late 2012 until 2015.
With Stoll turning 65 in 2019, the move is likely to have been down to his impending retirement as opposed to any dissatisfaction with the F1 team's result, though the original 5-year plan forecast the team challenging for wins in 2020.
Stoll, who has been with Renault since 1980, was appointed president of Renault Sport Racing in 2016 as the French company returned to the grid having bought the Lotus F1 team from Genii Capital.