Cox is now transferring his motor sport passion to Extreme E
Extreme E
Carl Cox has always specialised in bringing people together.
As one of the world’s most popular house and techno DJs, the veteran performer of over 40 years has sold millions of records and headlined countless festivals and club nights.
However, another passion of his has always run concurrently: motor sport. From funding small amateur sidecar outfits in Australia to winning the Isle of Man TT with road-racing legend Michael Dunlop, as well as competing himself at 300mph in drag racing, Cox has long been involved with the sport in a serious way.
Co’s team has made quick progress in a highly competitive series
Extreme E
Being one of the few black team owners in racing too, the world’s fastest DJ has marked himself out as a trailblazer, and now as the boss of a burgeoning Extreme E team, Cox has the chance to do things differently.
The all-electric off-road series, which has gender-equal driver line-ups and a programme running to place young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in teams, offers opportunities for a wide demographic of people to get involved like few other racing series.
16-year-old Lia Block and her family had to overcome tragedy with the loss of her father Ken earlier this year – now she’s focused on forging her own legend in racing
Speaking to Motor Sport, Cox says he has been galvanised by “the idea that anyone can, if you really believe in yourself, could be in that position too [at the top of professional motor sport].”
Lewis Hamilton’s Racing for All initiative, founded in association with Extreme E last year, placed young black mechanic Jacob Alexander at his title-winning X44 team, with provisions made for more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to do so this year.
“I think it’s really important that we see diversity within motor sport,” says Cox. “Because there’s so many people out there – that might see Lewis Hamilton, or even myself, in motor sport – who will feel that they don’t have a place.
“But they have the skills, and they have the desire to be able to do what everyone else can do.
Extreme E’s newest team boss Carl Cox identifies with the multi-faceted aims of the series
Extreme E
“As we go along, the message should be the idea that anyone, if you really believe, can be in this position.
“This [the Extreme E paddock] is a really good starting point – to see it clear as day that there is a mixture of people here from all types of races, and they can do the job that is needed.”
Jacob Alexander was just an unsuspecting engineering student with dreams of racing when he was told he was under consideration by Lewis Hamilton for the opportunity of a lifetime
Extreme E requires all teams to have male and female drivers in their line-ups, and has put the spotlight racers like Dakar legends Cristina Gutierrez and Laia Sanz along with rallycross hotshot Klara Andersson.
Now Lia Block, daughter of late legendary stunt driver Ken, has stepped in the female driver role for Cox’s team.
The young rallycross competitor, who is just 16, immediately showed she could run with legends like Sébastien Loeb and Johann Kristofferson, as well as the above-mentioned formidable female runners.
“Lia’s incredible,” team boss Cox tells Motor Sport. “She’s so mature, really understands her position and responsibility to the team.
“But while we’d all like to see a 16-year-old turn up and dominate, she still has a long way to go. She only had two sessions in the car prior to the race – talk about going in at the deep end!
16-year-old Lia Block has emerged as a new star
Extreme E
“If you look at someone like Lewis – Ron Dennis didn’t just give him the keys to an F1 car and say ‘Off you go!’ He was nurtured over a number of years.
“All of us are helping Lia to the point where she has a belief that she can basically get there in the end. It’s not about how quick she can do it, it’s all about how she feels in the car, how she works with the team and co-driver.
Groundbreaking African-American Myles Rowe is lighting up the US junior single-seater scene, but his mentor Rod Reid says more help is needed to improve diversity in IndyCar
“We know with all these elements we’re going to be there or there abouts – it’s a competition at the end of the day, and we want to be at the top.”
With racing veteran Timo Scheider on the team also, things look positive for what is one of the relative minnows of the series when up against Hamilton’s X44 squad and the team of his former F1 title rival Nico Rosberg – but taking over from what was the former Xite team hasn’t been without its challenges.
“We were on the back foot [in the beginning] to be honest with you, the car wasn’t anywhere near prepared – it was stuck in the ship [which transports all the Extreme E cars] for so long, it was like this rusty old piece of crap!” laughs Cox.
“The car was old, the team was old, we didn’t have any drivers to begin with – we had to basically bring it together like a puzzle.
“Luckily we have some good people working on it like my team principal Alon Shulman.”
Impressively, the squad pulled in a good result early this season, scoring a podium at Round 3 in Scotland. Success as a team boss is nothing new for Cox, but he still appreciates every success.
“It’s my name on the side of a car, [but] I’m not selling anything – I just get satisfaction by supporting the team in a way I believe I can make a difference, and added onto that we have the equality aspect and the environmental side, which I’m conscious about too. It’s two birds.”
