Erik Maris (born 16 February 1964 in Angers) is a former French

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 ...

and banker.

Biography

Érik Maris studied banking at

HEC Paris HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...

and, after graduating, joined the Paris branch of the US investment bank Lazard. In 2009, he became managing director of the bank, but left after just one year in this position. In 2010, he founded the bank ''Messier Maris & Associés'' in Paris together with Jean-Marie Messier. Érik Maris entered motorsport late. At the age of 49, he drove his first international sports car race at the 2013 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas. He finished this endurance race, which was part of that year's

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

, in 25th place overall in the Morgan LMP2 with his partners Jacques Nicolet and Jean-Marc Merlin. A season in the European Le Mans Series in 2014, where he drove a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, was followed in 2015 by a commitment in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Maris started with a Ligier JS P2 from OAK Racing. Since 2016 he has been racing in the European Le Mans Series again. In 2014, he made his debut at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, where he has competed five times so far. He was able to achieve a place in all five races, with his best placing coming in 2017, when he finished fifteenth overall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maris, Erik 1964 births Living people HEC Paris alumni French bankers French sailors (sport) French racing drivers