Darren Cox (born 1974) is a British businessman and automotive and motorsport executive who is known as the creator and director of

GT Academy GT Academy (also known as Nissan PlayStation GT Academy and NISMO PlayStation GT Academy as part of the Nissan partnership) was a television programme run by Nissan and Sony Interactive Entertainment, which provided an alternative route into re ...

. A character based on Cox will be portrayed by

Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), ''The Two Towers'' (2002), a ...

in the film '' Gran Turismo''. Cox is currently serving as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of The Race Media after co-founding the business in 2020.

Early life and education

Born in

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

, England in 1974, Cox attended the

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

, and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. His father worked in

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industry ...

, including as a stunt driver in television ads.

Career

Cox started his career with

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(UK), and after 10 years joined its sister marque,

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

. Two years later, he joined Nissan Europe. In 2005, Cox, as a general manager of Nissan Europe, introduced an idea of establishing an academy that would help

Sony PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divi ...

racing gamers become professional racing drivers. His idea was implemented in 2008 when Nissan GT Academy was founded as a joint venture between Sony and Nissan and was named after Gran Turismo game. The 23 graduates include

Jann Mardenborough Jann Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver competing in the Japanese Super GT series. In 2011 he became the third (and youngest) winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants. He was rewar ...

and

Lucas Ordóñez Lucas Ordóñez Martín-Esperanza (born May 1, 1985) is a Spanish racecar driver, who entered professional racing by winning a spot in a PlayStation 3 '' Gran Turismo'' competition. Racing for Nissan in the 2009 GT4 European Cup season, he secu ...

, who both achieved podiums in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

after receiving training from the academy. Cox spent nearly a decade working for Nissan in Paris and Geneva creating and leading several projects, including GT Academy, GT-R Launch, Juke, and Qashqai. Due to his success in Europe overseeing motorsport as part of larger roles, Cox was promoted to Global Head of Motorsport and later took on an additional role as global head of sales, marketing, and brand for NISMO in 2012. In October 2015, Cox left Nissan. During his tenure he instigated and led projects such as GT Academy, Nissan Deltawing, Nissan ZEOD electric Le Mans record, Juke R prototype, LMP2 and LMP3 engine programmes, and the Nissan LMP1 programme. After his departure, Nissan abandoned GT Academy and closed down the Le Mans and WEC race programmes. In 2016, he founded the first professional esports racing team, eSPORTS+CARS. His notable achievements as a race driver includes winning the Silverstone 24 hours overall in 2015 as well as a class win in the same event in 2014. He has also returned to racing in classic Minis in the Mini Seven Racing Club national series. ''Gran Turismo'' the film, is under development and is being produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The film will be released in August 2023. The character Danny Moore, portrayed by Orlando Bloom, is based on Cox.

Filmography

* ''Le Mans: Racing Is Everything'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Darren Living people 1974 births British businesspeople Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London