Jorge de Bagration

Don Jorge de Bagration y di Costafiorita (born Giorgi Bagration-Muchrani ; born February 22, 1944 in Rome , † January 16, 2008 in Tbilisi ) was recognized head of the former royal family of Georgia from 1991 . He had Spanish citizenship and worked as a motor sportsman until the 1980s .

Life

He was born as the only son of the Georgian aristocratic descendant Irakli Bagration-Muchrani (1909–1977) and the Italian Countess Maria Antonietta Pasquini dei Conti di Costafiorita (1911–1944) while emigrating. His mother died in childbirth. His stepmother became Infanta Maria de las Mercedes of Spain (1911–1953) in 1946 , daughter of Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria and the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa , a daughter of King Alfonso XII.

In 1991 the Georgian government and parliament recognized his claim to the throne. He first visited Georgia in 1995 to bury his father's ashes there. He later moved to Georgia, where his sons David and Irakli also live. He established a residence near Tbilisi. He died of complications from hepatitis and was buried at the side of his ancestors on January 20, 2008 in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta .

Motorsport

In 1959, de Bagration began a motorsport career. He initially drove motorcycles and from 1963 racing cars. He tried twice in vain to take part in Formula 1 races. He made his first attempt at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1968 with a Formula 2 racing car from Lola , which, however, was not approved by the organizers of the race. In 1974 de Bagration registered a private Surtees TS16 for the Spanish Grand Prix . In the first version of the entry list, de Bagration was listed under starting number 29, but he did not appear in the final entry list. In part, this is attributed to the withdrawal of one of its sponsors. In 1970, after four races in Interlagos , de Bagration in a Porsche 908 was runner-up behind Emerson Fittipaldi in the so-called COPA BRASIL Championship in Brazil.

In 1979 and 1981 he won the Spanish rally championship in a Lancia Stratos HF . In 1982 he retired from motorsport to make a name for himself as Public Relations Director for Fiat Spain and Portugal in the 1980s .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1972	Switzerland Ecurie Bonnier Switzerland	Lola T280	Belgium Hughes de Fierlant	Portugal Mário de Araújo Cabral	failure	Clutch damage
1973	Spain Escuderia Montjuich Tergal	Chevron B23	Spain José Juncadella		failure	Gearbox damage

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11
1972	Escuderia Montjuich Ecurie Bonnier	Porsche 908 Lola T290 Lola T280	Argentina BUA	United States DAY	United States SEB	United Kingdom BRH	Italy MON	Belgium SPA	Italy TAR	Germany ONLY	France LEM	Austria ZEL	United States WAT
1972	Escuderia Montjuich Ecurie Bonnier	Porsche 908 Lola T290 Lola T280	6th	DNF						DNF	DNF
1973	Racing Enterprises Escuderia Montjuich	Chevron B23	United States DAY	Italy VAL	France DIJ	Italy MON	Belgium SPA	Italy TAR	Germany ONLY	France LEM	Austria ZEL	United States WAT
1973	Racing Enterprises Escuderia Montjuich	Chevron B23			DNF					DNF	DNF

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Detailed description of Jorge de Bagrations' motorsport career on the website http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/debagration/biography.html (accessed on May 9, 2014).

personal data
SURNAME	Bagration, Jorge de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bagration y di Costafiorita, Jorge de; Bagration-Muchrani, Giorgi (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Spanish motor sportsman, self-proclaimed boss of the former royal family of Georgia
DATE OF BIRTH	February 22, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rome
DATE OF DEATH	January 16, 2008
Place of death	Tbilisi

[1] Detailed description of Jorge de Bagrations' motorsport career on the website http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/debagration/biography.html (accessed on May 9, 2014).