Charlie Cox
NationalityAustralia Australian
Born (1958-06-10) 10 June 1958
Gymea, Sydney, Australia
British Touring Car Championship
Years active1
TeamsThames Ford Dealers
Starts12
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish23rd in 1995

Charles Raymond Cox (born 10 June 1958) is an Australian former racing driver and motorsports commentator. He was brought up in the Sydney suburb of Gymea.

Racing career

His background is based on four wheels rather than two. His earliest exposure was in Australia in the late 1980s in the Production car-based "Street Sedans", raced on tracks in the Sydney area. He raced in the National Saloon Car Cup in Britain using a Ford Escort RS Cosworth in 1993 and 1994, winning many races and three class championships: British Salon Championship Class A 1993,1994 and British GT Championship Class A 1993 .[1] He also won the Willhire 24 Hour at Snetterton, again in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, in 1993.[1] For 1995 he moved up to the British Touring Car Championship in a Ford Mondeo for his recently formed Thames Ford Dealers team with sponsorship from the Evening Standard newspaper. He caused a sensation in a wet race early in the season by finishing 5th, although behind both works Fords, choosing the correct tyres and recovering from an early spin. However, a huge barrel-rolling crash at Thruxton left him with concussion, and caused him to miss several races. When he returned it was in a hatchback Mondeo, making him the first driver to race one in the BTCC. He raced occasionally in Sportscars subsequently, as well as some appearances at the Bathurst 1000.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pos Pts
1995 Thames Ford Dealers Ford Mondeo Ghia DON
1

18
DON
2

Ret
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

15
THR
1

13
THR
2

DNS
SIL
1
SIL
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
DON
1
DON
2
SIL KNO
1
KNO
2
BRH
1

21
BRH
2

15
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

16
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

DNS
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

14
23rd 8
Sources:[2][3]

Complete V8 Supercar Championship results

Supercars results
Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Position Points Ref
1999 Challenge Motorsport Holden Commodore VS EAS
R1
EAS
R2
EAS
R3
ADE
R4
BAR
R5
BAR
R6
BAR
R7
PHI
R8
PHI
R9
PHI
R10
HID
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
SAN
R14
SAN
R15
SAN
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
QLD
R19
CAL
R20
CAL
R21
CAL
R22
SYM
R23
SYM
R24
SYM
R25
WIN
R26
WIN
R27
WIN
R28
ORA
R29
ORA
R30
ORA
R31
QLD
R32
BAT
R33

Ret
NC 0 [4]

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps Ref
1997 Australia Challenge Motorsport Holden Commodore VS Australia Chris Smerdon 17th 143 [5]
1998 Australia Challenge Motorsport Holden Commodore VS Australia Chris Smerdon DNF 60 [6]
1999 Australia Challenge Motorsport Holden Commodore VS Australia Chris Smerdon DNF 122 [7]

Commentary career

His second career began when he started commentating on BTCC in 1997 alongside Murray Walker. For 1998 Walker left, and was replaced by 1982 Formula One World Championship runner-up John Watson. When the BBC lost BTCC coverage, they switched Cox to motorbike coverage alongside Steve Parrish and Suzi Perry.

He then moved onto commentating on MotoGP for the BBC in partnership with former GP racer Steve Parrish. Cox became known for numerous catchphrases andone-liners. He frequently referred to co-commentator Steve Parrish as "Oracle".

Top Gear Australia

Cox was named as one of the hosts of the first season of Top Gear Australia, along with cartoonist Warren Brown and advanced driving instructor Steve Pizzati, which premiered on SBS on 29 September 2008. [8] On 19 December 2008, Cox announced his departure from Top Gear Australia due to lack of time. He was replaced by jazz musician and motoring fan, James Morrison.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Charlie Cox - Driver Profile - BTCCPages.com". btccpages.com.
  2. "Charlie Cox Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  3. "Charlie Cox race results". TouringCars.net. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. "Charlie Cox – 1999 Shell Championship Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  5. "1997 Primus 1000 Classic". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  6. "1998 FAI 1000". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  7. "1999 FAI 1000". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  8. news.com.au Archived 29 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. The Daily Telegraph
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