Charlie Cox (racing)

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Charlie Cox was born in Australia in 1960, and brought up in the Sydney suburb of Gymea.

He commentates on MotoGP racing for the BBC. His catchphrases include "revs are up, ready for a start" shortly before the racing, "taking the whole shop" to mean either taking the lead at the start or passing 2 or more rivals in one go, and "that's shot the fox" when a driver providing exciting action drops out. He often describes "lunatic" drivers as "mad axe murderers". "A nightmare in a bubblecart" means a bad race, perhaps when a rider is in "P-nowhere". "As close as you like" is another phrase he is known for. Charlie sees the good side of any rider/driver and makes even the most boring of races sound like warfare!

His background is more based on 4 wheels than 2 however. He raced in the National Saloon Car Cup in Britain in 1993 and 1994, winning several races. For 1995 he moved up to the BTCC in a Ford Mondeo 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.

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