Alexandros "Alex" Margaritis (; born 20 September 1984) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

who is best known for competing in the German-based

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

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. The ...

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 betwe ...

single seater An open-wheel 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 their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

racing in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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

parentage.

Karting and formula racing

Margaritis had his first experience of

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using 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 full-size motor ...

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 Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young k ...

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 The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whole of Europe. Th ...

, in which he finished 7th overall, Margaritis made his

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

debut in the first season of the new

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

. 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, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring 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 a ...

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 Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The co ...

C Klasse, Margaritis did not achieve any points finishes; his best finish was 9th place at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

. 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 notable for winning the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Am category. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki ...

and

Jean Alesi Jean Robert Alesi (; born Giovanni Roberto Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix with Ferrari. Born and raised in Avignon, Alesi started karting a ...

. 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 Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver and broadcaster from Scotland, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot. Di Resta competed in Formula One between and . Born in Uphall and raised in Bathg ...

and

Gary Paffett Gary James Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British former racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 champ ...

. 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 CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

for Phoenix Racing. The Corvette C6.R 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 Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. I ...

. He drove for Triple H Team Hegersport 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 The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production sports car developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. The car is th ...

. 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 a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (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 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 Racing drivers 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 Engstler Motorsport drivers Manthey Racing drivers