# Nikolai Fomenko

Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (Russian: Николай Владимирович Фоменко, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering director of Marussia F1.

## Biography

Born in Leningrad on April 30, 1962.
Father - Vladimir Ivanovich Fomenko, physicist-metrologist, who worked for many years at VNIIM. Vladimir Fomenko was one of the developers of homing missiles.
Mother - Galina Nikolaevna Fomenko (nee Fedorova), after her grandmother from the nobility of the Skrypitsins, a ballerina, G. S. Ulanova identified her at the Vaganovsk Choreographic School. Due to a meniscus injury, she was forced to change her profession and became a civil engineer.
He studied at school No. 222, which at that time was re-qualified as the School of the Olympic Reserve. Simultaneously with his studies at school, he studied at the Theater of Youth Creativity (TYuT), played in the symphony orchestra of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers on the first violin.
In 1983 he graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography (LGITMiK). While studying at the institute, he organized the Secret group, a member of the Komsomol. After graduating from the institute, he worked for distribution at the Alexandrinsky Theater.
Since January 1993, he began to live and work in Moscow.

## Music career

Fomenko started his career as vocalist and guitarist in the band Secret, who were very popular in Russia in the mid-1980s.

## Acting career

Fomenko first started his acting career as a theater actor in the Theater of Youth Creativity (1974-1976).

### Filmography

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1983 | Speed (Skorost') | Student |
| 1997 | Sympathy Seeker (Sirota Kazanskaya) | Kolya |
| 1999 | Luna Papa (Lunny Papa) | Yassir |
| 1999 | The Sky with Diamonds (Nebo v Almazakh) | Anton Chekhov |
| 2000 | Check (Chek) | Brunet |
| 2000 | Old Hags (Starye Klyachi) | businessman Vassily Khomenko |
| 2003 | The Suit (Shik) | Botya |
| 2003 | Bedroom Key (Klyuch ot Spal'ni) | Vakhlakov |
| 2007 | Model (Naturshchitsa) | |
| 2007 | Gloss (Глянец) | |
| 2008 | Radio Day (Den' Radio) | As himself |
| 2017 | You All Infuriate Me | Boris Dmitrievich |
| 2017 | Rock Dog | Angus Scattergood |
| 2024 | Others | Leonid Vasilyevich Petrov |
| 2024 | Fedya. Narodnyy futbolist | Konstantin Beskov |

## TV career

Fomenko performed in the popular Russian music collection series Staryye Pesni o Glavnom (Old songs about the important).
1997—1998 Empire of Passion (NTV, reruns — TNT, MUZ-TV) — author and host.
He hosted two seasons of a TV show The Interception and a season of the game-show The Weakest Link on Russia's Channel 5.
In 2009, he began hosting Top Gear Russia, the REN-TV spin-off of the BBC series Top Gear.

## Car racing career

In 1994, Fomenko was invited by Vladislav Listyev to participate in a car racing show as a celebrity guest. Later he started to train as a professional racer and took his first victory in 1996.

### FIA GT

| Year | Team | Car | № | Class | Co-drivers | Points | Pos. |
| 2000 | Freisinger Motorsport | Porsche 996 GT3-R | 58 | N-GT | Alexey Vasilyev | 0 | — |
| 2001 | Freisinger Racing | Porsche 996 GT3-R | 59 | N-GT | Alexey Vasilyev Richard Kaye | 0 | — |
| 2002 | RWS Motorsport | Porsche 996 GT3-R | 77 | N-GT | Alexey Vasilyev Antonio García Jesus Diez Villaroel | 1 | 26 |
| 2003 | RWS Yukos Motorsport | Porsche 996 GT3-R | 77 | N-GT | Alexey Vasilyev Adam Jones Stephane Daoudi | 17 | 14 |
| 2004 | Freisinger Yukos Motorsport | Porsche 996 GT3-RSR | 77 | N-GT | Alexey Vasilyev | 26 | 7 |
| 2004 | Cirtek Motorsport | Porsche 996 GT3-RS | 73 | N-GT | Adam Jones John Grant Vic Rice | 26 | 7 |
| 2005 | Russian Age Racing | Ferrari 550 Maranello | 17; 18 | GT1 | Alexey Vasilyev Christophe Bouchut Jamie Campbell-Walter Nicolas Minassian | 5 | 19 |

### Endurance races

| Year | Race | Team | Car | Class | Co-drivers | Pos. |
| 2003 | 24 Hours of Daytona | RWS Motorsport | Porsche 996 | GTS | Alexey Vasilyev, Patrick Bourdais Walter Lechner Jr., Tetsuya Tanaka | 28 (9) |
| 2004 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Freisinger Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-RSR | LMGT | Alexey Vasilyev, Patrick Bourdais | DNF |
| 2005 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Cirtek Motorsport/ Russian Age Racing/ Convers Team | Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello | LMGT1 | Alexey Vasilyev, Christophe Bouchut | 17 (5) |

## Car manufacturer

Fomenko is involved in the development and launching of the Marussia sports car.

### Formula One

In 2010 Marussia became a sponsor of Virgin Racing Formula One team. On 11 November 2010, Marussia acquired a controlling stake in the team.
On 2 February 2011 Fomenko was announced as Engineering Director of the Marussia Virgin Racing Formula One team.

## Personal life

He was married to Andrei Mironov's stepdaughter, actress Maria Golubkina, and has three children: daughters Anastasia and Ekaterina, and a son, Ivan.