The name of Oksana Kosachenko - a sports commentator, pilot, organizer of automobile competitions, commercial director of the Caterham F1 team - is well known in men's racing. Being the first time as a commentator on RTR, Oksana decided to try her hand at the wheel of a racing car. Later, she formed the Manuscript agency, which was involved in organizing the RTCC stages from 2005 to 2009. Thanks to the forces of this organization, Vitaly Petrov, the first and so far only representative from Russia, appeared in Formula 1.
Biography of Oksana Kosachenko
Oksana Kosachenko was born on May 1, 1966, a Muscovite. At school, the girl studied perfectly, although her hooligan behavior plunged teachers into bewilderment.
Oksana Kosachenko in her youth (photo in the article) could argue up the cornice or knock out a window glass with her head, which did not prevent her from graduating from an educational institution with a gold medal. At the age of 15, the girl learned to drive a car; somehow, in protest against the closed way of spending time, she stole a bus from a pioneer camp. Surprisingly, the blond girl was interested in the internal structure of televisions and astrophysics, although in her adult life Oksana Kosachenko saw herself as an astronomer or an operetta artist. Because of the frivolity, the planned creative path was not supported by the family, and the road to astrophysics was closed by the Physics Department of Moscow State University for medical reasons.
On the way to Formula 1
It was all the same where to do, so Oksana Kosachenko became a student of the Faculty of Philosophy. This was the first step in the beginning of her unusual and fast-paced career. It was a great success to get acquainted with the producer of the RTR channel I. Dykhovich, who invited Oksana to comment on car races. The environment in which yesterday’s student ended up charged with her enthusiasm, which offset the inexperience in this area. After some time, the young commentator was invited to test herself driving a racing car.
Oksana Kosachenko (photo above) initially refused, and two weeks later agreed to plunge into the
car routines she describes on
TV screens and never regretted her decision.
Driving a racing car
Oksana Kosachenko invited her sister, who is a doctor by profession, to her first race. I handed her a validol with corvalol and ordered her to meet with this anti-stress set at the finish. When Kosachenko finished the race, her sister, who could not stand such a spectacle, had nothing left of the “gentleman's set”: she ate validol, washed down with corvalol.
In 2002-2003, Oksana Kosachenko, whose family is exclusively an automobile sport, participated in the VW POLO Cup of Russia, speaking for the Sport Garage team; the next three years on the 7TV channel she commented on the Formula 3 Euroseries, as well as LMS and DTM.
The first woman manager in the racing world
Oksana became the first woman manager to easily and swiftly enter the Formula 1 men's world and become her own in it. And this is not surprising, because Kosachenko has been challenging herself all her life, trying to overcome the established standards. In the world of men, Oksana feels familiar, because for them she is a partner, although harsh jokes, not at all for female ears, have to be heard quite often.
According to Oksana, motorsport is not for gentle and weak creatures:
• It is inelegant - you get out of the car wet, not in a uniform in overalls, with round marks from the helmet. Although photographers want to see you in a slightly different light - in all their feminine beauty.
• Male stamina is needed.
• Motorsport becomes a part of your life and nothing else. Perhaps sometimes you have to sacrifice female happiness.
About Vyborg rocket
Oksana, who was initially skeptical in motorsport, works 16 hours a day, regularly on the road. Her victory is participation in Formula 1 (2010) Vitaly Petrov - a Russian race car driver nicknamed Vyborg rocket. The manager of this promising driver, who at that time was 16 years old, Oksana became in 2001. She sent Petrov to Italy. Since Vitaly did not speak foreign languages and rarely traveled, Oksana had to become a translator for him and accompany him to all the races.
The budget for the participation of one race car driver in motorsport is tens of millions of dollars, and the team is about 400 million dollars a year, so Oksana began to look for sponsors. She succeeded: large patrons of St. Petersburg believed in the success of this enterprise and invested huge sums in it. In the 2010-2011 season. he was a member of the Renault team, in 2012 - was a member of the Caterham team. A year later he moved to the Malaysian team. Oksana in 2013 left the post of his manager and became the commercial director of the Caterham team. It was for her that Vitaly Petrov previously advocated. Oksana’s career continued in London, where she was invited to work in the Formula 1 company.