Alex Fontana

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Alex Fontana
Nationality	Swiss Greek via dual nationality
Born	(1992-08-05) 5 August 1992 (age 29) Lugano, Switzerland
GT World Challenge Europe career
Current team	Emil Frey Racing
Former teams	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team, Adrenaline Motorsport, , ,
Previous series
China Touring Car Championship, VLN,
Championship titles
2021 2019 2018 2011	GT World Challenge Silver Cup China GT Championship GT4 Blancpain Endurance Silver Cup European F3 Open Championship

Alex Fontana (born 5 August 1992 in Lugano) is a Swiss racing driver of Greek descent, currently racing as a professional driver in the GT World Challenge Europe for Emil Frey Racing. He is a freelance driver with an open contract able to race for different teams and different manufacturers at the same time. When he is not racing, he works as a coach and driving instructor in Europe, America, and China, while commentating the Formula 1 Grands Prix for Swiss television with RSI.

Career[]

Karting[]

Fontana's passion for racing began in 1996 at three and a half years old in the Greek island of Rhodes, driving his first baby Puffo Kart. Until 2008 he raced in the Swiss National Championships and international events as a factory driver for Swiss Hutless and PCR International. Highlights include the Swiss Karting Championship 2007 KF3 title, the 2006 Biland 4 Stroke World Final win in Dubai, the Bridgestone Cup 2008 KF2 title win, and the Italian Open Master 2008 Runner Up, as well as qualifying for the World Karting Championship 2008 in La Conca, Italy.

Single seaters[]

In 2009 came the switch to single-seaters after making it into the BMW Talent Scout event at Valencia in 2008. In 2009 he raced in Formula Azzurra with MG Motorsport taking two wins and one additional podium. In 2010 there was the switch to Formula 3 with Corbetta Competizioni in the Italian Championship, before moving up in 2011 with the same team in the European Formula 3 Open. 2011 was a successful year for Fontana with two wins and nine podiums, allowing him to take the overall championship title. At the end of the year, he had the opportunity to test the Mercedes DTM for the HWA Team.

In the same year, he had the first single race weekend as a wild card in GP3 Series with Jenzer Motorsport, scoring points with a 6th place at the race debut.

In 2012 he joined the FIA Formula 2 Championship with three podiums and a win, being selected at the end of the year by Lotus F1 Junior Team, thanks also to other points finish in GP3 Series in 4th place, again as a wild card entry and again with Jenzer Motorsport.

2013 was the first season with Lotus F1 Junior Team and the first full season with Jenzer Motorsport in the GP3 Series, with one podium finish and the highlight of the first Formula 1 test with Lotus F1 Team 30 September in Paul Ricard circuit.

In 2014 he continued with Lotus F1 Junior Team in GP3 Series but switching to ART Grand Prix, with two podiums and two front rows start. With only 5 races in the points out of 18, he finished 11th in the championship. At the end of the year, he joined the World Series 3.5 by Renault's official test in Jerez with Lotus Charouz signing the 2nd best lap time.

2015 was a bit of a special year. Lotus was sold to Renault and this caused the exit from the Junior Program. He raced again in GP3 Series with Status GP, with the Canadian team having some difficulties throughout the year and eventually exit the series. In the same year came the call from Pons Racing to replace Roberto Mehri in Monte Carlo, where he raced with Marussia F1. The first race in World Series 3.5 by Renault, the first race in the streets of Monaco, finished in the points with 9th place. At the end of the year he was called by Jarno Trulli to compete in the FIA Formula E Championship last double-round of London Battersea Park, and with the best result in 9th place in the second qualifying. After that, the last single-seater experience to date was the official GP2 Series test in Abu Dhabi, with Status GP and Rapax Team, with the highest result of 8th in the standings.

GT and touring cars[]

In 2016 there was the switch to GT cars joining McLaren GT Academy for a Blancpain GT Endurance campaign and 24 Hours of Spa in PRO class. At the end of the year, it was called by KIA Motors to develop the new Super Production car for China Touring Car Championship, collecting a podium and a pole position in the debut weekends.

2017 was again in Blancpain GT Endurance and 24 Hours of Spa but in PRO-AM, with the Mercedes AMG supported car of AKKA ASP and his Chupa-Chups livery. A highlight of the year is the overall best lap time in the two days of official testing in Paul Ricard on a field of 55 cars. He was signed by KIA Motors for the maximum number of rounds a foreign driver could complete, four, taking two pole positions, two wins, and one more podium.

In 2018 he raced for Emil Frey Jaguar Racing winning the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Silver Cup and also placing the car in the top 5 in the overall standings 2 times out of 5. In China, he has been confirmed for the third year by KIA Motors in China Touring Car Championship. As a foreign driver he disputed the 4 mandatory races on 8 where, thanks to two victories, he allowed Kia to win the constructors' championship. He also took part in two VLN races to achieve the Permit A for the Nordschleife.

2019 was opened by taking part in the first round of the VLN with the official Nissan KCMG team at the "65. ADAC Westfalenfahrt". In this year Fontana was chosen as a driver for the official AMG team - Phantom Pro Racing in the China GT Championship, GT4 class, where, after an intense championship, he managed to win the title. He also raced for the fourth year in a row as an official Kia motors driver for Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team in the China touring car championship for the maximum number of races allowed for a foreign driver. Thanks to his 84 points the Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team has won the manufacturers' title for the second year in a row. Lastly, he has been involved in other motorsports competitions during the year including the china endurance championship as a driver for Lamborghini in GT3 class and as a coach for Volkswagen in TCR class. 2019 has also shown Fontana engaged in collaborations with the Swiss television RSI for the events of Formula 1 and other motorsport shows. In recognition for this year, Fontana was awarded by the Swiss Automobile Club an award for sports merit and a trophy in memory of Loris Kessel.

In 2020 Fontana was meant to join three different competitions in Asia, as well as a comeback in the European competitions. - Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many competitions have been canceled and Fontana didn't take part in any of the competitions in Asia. -

Fontana was confirmed to race with Adderly Fong in the Silver-Pro class of the GT World Challenge Asia behind the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Zun Motorsport Crew. He, also, was still in contract to continue to race in the China GT Championship, that year in two classes: in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT3 class with Chris Chia and the Phantom Pro Racing Team, and, after the success of 2019, in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in GT4 class.

Furthermore, after a long stop of the activities, Fontana has been called to compete in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 2020, driving the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of the AKKA ASP Team. The year has been concluded with 11th place in the endurance cup.

In 2021, Fontana competed again in Europe behind the wheel of the consolidated Emil Frey's Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. This comeback was announced three years after his success in the Endurance Silver Cup with the Swiss Team. Fontana won the 2021 championship title in the Endurance Silver Cup, with his teammates Rolf Ineichen and Ricardo Feller, and he was the sole champion of the Sprint Silver Cup. At the end of the season, he was the unique winner of the combined Silver Championship title, with a gap of 28 points on the 2nd placed, his teammate Ricardo Feller. Even if he was racing in the Silver category, Fontana also finished the year in 5th place overall among Pro drivers in the Sprint Championship. In addition, the endurance team was the protagonist of a record in this competition during the debut race in Monza, managing to become the first Silver cup team to finish the race on the overall podium, other than winning in their category.

In June 2021, Fontana had taken part in his first , racing in the main class with the Konrad Motorsport's Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo.

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2009	Formula Azzurra	MG Motorsport	16	2	0	0	3	49	7th
2010	Italian Formula 3 Championship	Corbetta Competizioni	16	0	0	0	0	0	27th
2011	European F3 Open	Corbetta Competizioni	16	2	1	1	7	120	1st
	GP3 Series	Jenzer Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	1	24th
2012	FIA Formula Two Championship	Motorsport Vision	16	1	0	1	3	115	7th
	GP3 Series	Jenzer Motorsport	4	0	0	0	0	8.5	18th
2013	GP3 Series	Jenzer Motorsport	16	0	0	0	1	18	17th
2014	GP3 Series	ART Grand Prix	18	0	0	1	2	43	11th
2014-15	Formula E	Trulli GP	2	0	0	0	0	0	33rd
2015	GP3 Series	Status Grand Prix	18	0	0	0	0	16	16th
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Pons Racing	1	0	0	0	0	2	24th
2016	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Garage 59	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	China Touring Car Championship	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	4	0	1	0	1	21	22nd
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	McLaren	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2017	China Touring Car Championship	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	8	2	2	0	3	85	10th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Mercedes-AMG	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am	AKKA ASP	4	0	0	0	0	2	47th
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup		4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Emil Frey Racing	1	0	0	0	0
2018	China Touring Car Championship	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	6	2	0	0	3	70.5	11th
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Emil Frey Racing	5	0	0	0	0	22	21st
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Silver Cup		5	2	4	3	3	103	1st
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup		2	0	0	0	0	3	23rd
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Silver Cup		2	0	0	0	2	21.5	11th
	European Le Mans Series - LMP3	Racing For Poland	1	0	0	0	0	0.5	36th
2019	China Touring Car Championship	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	8	1	0	0	3	84	9th
			12	4	0	0	6	178.5	1st
2020	GT World Challenge Asia		0	0	0	0	0	0	-th**
			0	0	0	0	0	0	-th**
			0	0	0	0	0	0	-th**
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	AKKA ASP	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver Cup		4	0	1	1	0	32	11th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Mercedes-AMG	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	European Le Mans Series - LMP3	BHK Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	4	28th
2021	GT World Challenge Europe - Silver Cup	Emil Frey Racing	15	5	6	1	8	194	1st
	GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup - Silver Cup		10	3	4	0	5	103	1st
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver Cup		5	2	2	1	3	91	1st
	GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup - Overall		10	1	1	0	2	45	5th

^* Season still in progress.

^** Season suspended due to COVID-19 situation.

Complete GP3 Series results[]

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2011	Jenzer Motorsport	IST FEA	IST SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	VAL FEA	VAL SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	NÜR FEA	NÜR SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA 14	SPA SPR 6	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR			24th	1
2012	Jenzer Motorsport	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	VAL FEA	VAL SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HOC FEA	HOC SPR	HUN FEA 17	HUN SPR 15	SPA FEA 10‡	SPA SPR 4	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR			18th	8.5
2013	Jenzer Motorsport	CAT FEA 10	CAT SPR 9	VAL FEA 14	VAL SPR 11	SIL FEA 7	SIL SPR 3	NÜR FEA Ret	NÜR SPR 17	HUN FEA 10	HUN SPR 19	SPA FEA 21	SPA SPR 12	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR Ret	YMC FEA 13	YMC SPR 10			17th	18
2014	ART Grand Prix	CAT FEA 11	CAT SPR 19	RBR FEA Ret	RBR SPR 17	SIL FEA 15	SIL SPR Ret	HOC FEA 11	HOC SPR 13	HUN FEA 14	HUN SPR 13	SPA FEA 6	SPA SPR 3	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 10	SOC FEA 3	SOC SPR Ret	YMC FEA 6	YMC SPR 15	11th	43
2015	Status Grand Prix	CAT FEA 9	CAT SPR 16	RBR FEA 10	RBR SPR 6	SIL FEA 19	SIL SPR 18	HUN FEA 14	HUN SPR 13	SPA FEA 10	SPA SPR 6	MNZ FEA 8	MNZ SPR 16	SOC FEA 19	SOC SPR 11	BHR FEA 19	BHR SPR 19	YMC FEA 15	YMC SPR 13	16th	16

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results[]

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

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Points
2012	SIL 1 3	SIL 2 3	ALG 1 7	ALG 2 10	NÜR 1 6	NÜR 2 5	SPA 1 8	SPA 2 5	BRH 1 Ret	BRH 2 7	LEC 1 14	LEC 2 Ret	HUN 1 1	HUN 2 5	MNZ 1 9	MNZ 2 6	7th	115

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2015	Pons Racing	ALC 1	ALC 2	MON 1 9	SPA 1	SPA 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	BUG 1	BUG 2	JER 1	JER 2	24th	2

Complete Formula E results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Powertrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2014–15	Trulli Formula E Team	Spark SRT01-e	SRT01-e	BEI	PUT	PDE	BUE	MIA	LBH	MCO	BER	MSC	LDN Ret	LDN 14	33rd	0

Complete European Le Mans Series results[]

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2018	Racing For Poland	LMP3	Ligier JS P3	Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8	LEC	MNZ 14	RBR	SIL	SPA	ALG	36th	0.5
2020	BHK Motorsport	LMP3	Ligier JS P320	Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8	LEC	SPA	LEC	MNZ	ALG 8		28th	4

Complete China Touring Car Championship results[]

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Points
2017	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	Kia K3 2.0T	Super Cup	ZUN 1	ZUN 2	GUA 1 Ret	GUA 2 10			STC 1	STC 2	SHA 1 4	SHA 2 11	NIN 1 12	NIN 2 1	WUH 1	WUH 2	SHA 1 1	SHA 2 3	10th	85
	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	Kia K3 2.0T	Super Cup	SHA 1 2	SHA 2 Ret	ZUN 1	ZUN 2	GUA 1	GUA 2	STC 1	STC 2	NIN 1	NIN 2	WUH 1	WUH 2	STC 1 1	STC 2 5	SHA 1 9	SHA 2 1	11th	70.5
	Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team	Kia K3 2.0T	Super Cup	GUA 1 5	GUA 2 3	SHA 1	SHA 2	STC 1	STC 2	ZUN 1	ZUN 2	NIN 1 3	NIN 2 10			SHA 1 Ret	SHA 2 5	1	4	9th	84

Complete China GT Championship GT3/GT4 results[]

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Points
		Mercedes-AMG GT4	GT4	SEP 1 1	SEP 2 3	NIN 1 5	NIN 2 1	SHA 1 11*	SHA 2 2	4	6	1	6	SHA 1 1	SHA 2 4	1st	178.5
**		Mercedes-AMG GT4	GT4	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	-th	0
		Mercedes-AMG GT3	GT3	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	-th	0

^* Half points awarded due to red flag.

^** Season suspended due to COVID-19 situation.

Complete GT World Challenge Asia results[]

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos	Points
2020*		Mercedes-AMG GT3	GT3	SEP 1	SEP 2	SHA 1	SHA 2	TBC 1	TBC 2	SEP 1	SEP 2	-th	0

^* Season suspended due to COVID-19 situation.

Complete GT World Challenge Europe - Sprint Cup results[]

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
2018	Emil Frey Racing	Jaguar XK Emil Frey G3	Silver	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	MIS 1 7	MIS 2 11	HUN 1	HUN 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	11th	21.5
2021	Emil Frey Racing	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	Silver Overall (Category)	MAG 1 3 (1st)	MAG 2 8 (3rd)	ZAN 1 1 (1st)	ZAN 2 2 (1st)	MIS 1 9 (2nd)	MIS 2 11 (4th)	BRH 1 14 (9th)	BRH 2 8 (4th)	VAL 1 18 (6th)	VAL 2 13 (4th)	1st	103

Complete GT World Challenge Europe - Endurance Cup results[]

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	Pos	Points
2018	Emil Frey Racing	Jaguar XK Emil Frey G3	Silver Overall (Category)	MON 5 (1st)	SIL 44 (7th)	PRI 16 (3rd)	SPA 28 (4th)	CAT 4 (1st)	1st	103
2020		Mercedes-AMG GT3	Silver Overall (Category)	IMO 38 (10th)	NÜR 38 (9th)	SPA 29 (6th)	PRI 21 (5th)		11th	32
2021	Emil Frey Racing	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	Silver Overall (Category)	MON 3 (1st)	PRI 13 (2nd)	SPA 31 (11th)	NÜR 8 (1st)	CAT 20 (7st)	1st	91

Complete Nurburgring 24 Hour results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2021	Konrad Motorsport	Axcil Jefferies Michele Di Martino Tim Zimmermann	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	SP9	56	18th	17th

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Alex Fontana career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marco Barba	European F3 Open Championship Champion 2011	Succeeded by Niccolò Schirò
Preceded by Inaugural	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Silver Cup Champion 2018 With: Adrian Zaugg & Mikaël Grenier	Succeeded by Nico Bastian Timur Boguslavskiy Felipe Fraga
Preceded by Jack Mitchell	Champion 2019 With:	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ezequiel Pérez Companc	GT World Challenge Europe - Silver Cup Champion 2021	Succeeded by Incumbent