Alexandros "Alex" Margaritis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Μαργαρίτης; born 20 September 1984) is a Greek-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who is best known for competing in the German-based Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

championship. Prior to that, his career had focused on

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

single seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

racing in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Margaritis has dual nationality as a result of his place of birth and Greek parentage.

Karting and formula racing

Margaritis had his first experience of

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

in 1996, and in 1997, he competed in the ICA Junior class, in which he secured the championship runner-up position. He spent the next two seasons competing in the International Junior class in Germany, finishing 4th overall in 1999. In the following year, Margaritis made his single seater formula debut in the Formula BMW ADAC championship. In 2001, he achieved three podium finishes and one pole position on the way to 6th in the championship standings. After one season in German Formula Renault, in which he finished 7th overall, Margaritis made his Formula Three debut in the first season of the new Formula 3 Euro Series. He achieved one podium finish and two pole positions during the first year and retained a place in the series in 2004.

Touring cars

In 2005, Margaritis moved from

formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

when an opportunity arose in one of Europe's most high-profile touring car championships. He was signed by Mücke Motorsport, which was making the same transition between disciplines. In a 2004-specification AMG Mercedes C Klasse, Margaritis did not achieve any points finishes; his best finish was 9th place at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

. He then moved to Persson Motorsport as the third driver in its 2006 line-up alongside

Mathias Lauda Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver currently racing for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda a ...

and Jean Alesi. He was classified 11th in the standings, with a total of 11 points, and achieved a best finish of 5th position in the season's first race. Persson retained his services in 2007 alongside Paul di Resta and Gary Paffett. He finished 10th in the overall drivers standings with 16 points, achieving two 4th places. On 27 February 2008, Margaritis announced his intention to leave the DTM and seek a position in another championship or category, citing as a primary factor the handicap of competing in year-old cars against machinery of factory specification.Elizalde, P
"Margaritis leaves DTM"
''Autosport.com'', 27 February 2008. Retrieved on 27 February 2008.

Grand Tourers

In 2008, Margaritis switched his focus to GT cars: He competed in the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their a ...

for Phoenix Racing. The

Corvette C6.R The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette C5-R racing car, app ...

failed to finish the race and was classified 37th. After one season without racing in major series, Margaritis participated in the newly created

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand to ...

. He drove for

Triple H Team Hegersport Hegersport GmbH is a German auto racing company which serves as organizer for German Porsche Sports Cup series, as well as a racing team which competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship under the title Triple H Team Hegersport. The company was ...

and Phoenix Racing. In spite of not participating in all events he finished 7th in the overall standings. Margaritis switched to the

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

in 2011. He and his partner Dino Lunardi won the driver's championship in their BMW ALPINA B6 GT3. In 2012 Margaritis switched to Team Heico to share a car with

Lance David Arnold Lance David Arnold (born 8 June 1986 in Duisburg) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as the Rolex Sports Car Series and Porsche Supercup, as well as the 2009 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In November 2011, Arnold partnered wit ...

. The pairing finished 18th in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Heico hired Magaritis for the 2011 and 2012 editions of the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

as well. 2013 saw Margaritis getting a part-time drive for H&R Spezialfedern GmbH & Co in the VLN.

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Sources

Speedsport MagazineTouring Car Times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margaritis, Alexandros 1984 births Living people Citizens of Greece through descent Greek racing drivers German racing drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Sportspeople from Bonn German people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent FIA GT1 World Championship drivers Racing drivers from North Rhine-Westphalia ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Ma-con Motorsport drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers