Joachim Winkelhock
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Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German
motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
driver. He competed in and won German Formula Three before moving onto Formula One. Winkelhock would compete in the 1989 season of F1 with the
Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (also known as AGS and Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small French racecar constructor that competed in various racing categories over a period of thirty years, including Formula One from to . AGS survived ...
where he would fail to qualify for a race before being replaced mid season with driver
Yannick Dalmas Yannick Dalmas (; born 28 July 1961) is a former racing driver from France. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times (in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1999), each with different teams. Prior to this, he participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix, debuti ...
. After his brief stint in Formula One Winkelhock would later race in
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...
until 2003. The height of Winkelhock's career was his
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Pan ...
win for BMW. Winkelhock is part of a racing family with his late older brother
Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Waiblingen, Winkelhock was the older brother of Joachim and Thomas. Winkelhock participated in ...
, his younger brother, Thomas Winkelhock, and his nephew, son of Manfred,
Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (; born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led th ...
all being racing drivers.


Career

Winkelhock started in the one-make Renault 5 Cup in 1979 but it would be almost a decade before he found his first major success, by winning the 1988
German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...
as well as that year's F3 European Cup (at the unusually late age of 28). He progressed the following year to
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
with the small
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
AGS team, who paired him with his future touring car rival
Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and , and World Touring Car from to 2021. In touring car racing, Tarquini won the World Touring Car Championship in with SEAT; ...
; Winklehock's brief time in F1 was unsuccessful, failing to pre-qualify the car on 7 occasions. His reputation however remained strong enough that he was subsequently hired by
BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing. The current organisation is a ...
for German's premier
touring car racing 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 ...
series the
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...
, first for the Bigazzi and then
Schnitzer Schnitzer is a German noun meaning "carver" and is the surname of: * Eduard Schnitzer (1840–1892), physician, naturalist and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile * Florian Schnitzer (born 1981), German ice hockey pla ...
teams. He finished 6th, 7th and 8th in the final standings and scored three wins in total during his three years in the series, as well as winning the 1990 and 1991
24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...
races for BMW and Schnitzer. When BMW exited the DTM at the end of 1992 Winkelhock moved with the manufacturer and Schnitzer to the
British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...
, where he and teammate
Steve Soper Steven Soper (born 27 September 1951) is a British racing driver. He raced in major sports car racing, sports car and touring car racing, touring car categories in the 1980s and 1990s. He was Japanese Touring Car Championship, Japanese Touring ...
dominated the first half of the 1993 season. The pair took 7 wins from the first 8 rounds (Winklehock four, Soper three). Although the second half of the year was more challenging for Winkelhock, seeing him earn only one more win, he was still eventually crowned champion. During his time in Britain, he was also commonly known as ''Smokin' Jo'' for his cigarette smoking habit. Winkelhock's next win was the 1994
Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship The FIA Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship was a motorsport championship staged in 1988 and in 1994. The 1988 championship was won by New Zealand's Trevor Crowe and the 1994 champion was Joachim Winkelhock from Germany. Crowe drove a BMW M3 for ...
, and in 1995 he won the German Supertouring Championship (STW). He also triumphed in the 1995
Spa 24 Hours 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 ...
, and the 1994 and 1998
Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...
's Guia touring car races. His last success for BMW came at the
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Pan ...
, which he won driving the
BMW V12 LMR The BMW V12 LMR is a Le Mans Prototype built for sports car racing from 1999 to 2000. The car was built through an alliance between BMW Motorsport and Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams Racing, and was the successor to the failed BMW V12 ...
prototype run by
Schnitzer Motorsport Schnitzer Motorsport was a motorsport team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. From the early days of its establishment, the team mostly operated an auto racing, automobile racing squad for BMW, and had remarkable results in touring car rac ...
. In 2000, Winkelhock joined
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
in the new
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 ...
(a revived version of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, which had been defunct since 1995). In his first season in the new DTM Winkelhock was competitive, winning at the
Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...
and finishing 5th in the final standings. However, the collapse in Opel's fortunes in DTM after 2000 saw a consequent decline in Winkelhock's fortunes and after a 2003 season in which he only scored a single point, he announced his retirement from motor racing at the age of 43. He runs his family's
Waiblingen Waiblingen (; Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district. , Waiblin ...
-based truck- crane and towing business, occasionally getting personally involved in recovering crashed trucks. A special edition of the
BMW M5 The BMW M5 is a super high-performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports saloon category. The M5 has always been produced in the saloon (sedan, US English) body s ...
has been made in honor of Joachim Winkelhock. A 2005 poll run by ''
Motor Sport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms ''automobile ...
'' magazine voted Winkelhock the 16th greatest touring car driver ever. Winkelhock is nicknamed "Smokin' Jo".


Racing record


Complete German Formula Three results

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


Complete Formula One results

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


Complete European Touring Car Championship results

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


Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

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


Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Not eligible for series points


Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

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


Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races 1996 only) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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


Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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


Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

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


Complete Bathurst 1000 results


24 Hours of Le Mans results


Macau Grand Prix Guia Race results


References


External links


Personal websiteWinkelhock
at ChicaneF1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Winkelhock, Joachim 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Waiblingen Racing drivers from Stuttgart (region) German racing drivers German Formula One drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers AGS Formula One drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship Champions Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Japanese Touring Car Championship drivers Opel people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers BMW M drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers