Nikolai Fomenko

Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (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).

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.

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.