Speaking to international media that were present at the official event at the Old Truman Brewery in London, he was first asked as to whether one of the ranks of GT Academy graduates will be in the program next year. Cox stated that he “would be exceedingly disappointed if there wasn’t.”
“We have got a great opportunity that we have got a good group of drivers already. We’ve got Super GT drivers that are there, as well as eight works drivers, which includes Japanese, Nordic and German nationalities. We can’t forget Michael of course. I would be personally and professionally massively disappointed if we didn’t have at least one GT Academy driver in the line-up for next year’s Le Mans.”
Fans are an intrinsic part of motorsport, as their support of their favourite drivers and teams help to provide the atmosphere that is crucial to the survival and future of a particular category. Cox was disappointed with what the manufacturers in LMP1 have been doing, as there was no real effort to activate and engage with the masses in attendance.
His thoughts about winning over the fans was an approach that will help them to move fan interaction in the future with their unique and unconventional methods bringing in the masses, especially with a look ahead to not just use the “calling card” of the GT-R, but also involve the NISMO brand.
“We’ve got GT-R owners coming to British GT in 10 days time to support Chris Hoy and Alex Buncombe, with GT-R customers coming to Goodwood as well, but that is only just in the UK. This is as well as the 24 Hours of Nurbürgring having a big presence of owners there.