Joel Sturm

Joel Sturm (born 29 November 2001) is a German racing driver. He's the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 champion, having driven for Manthey Pure Rxcing.

Early career

GT4

Having begun his career in karts at the age of eight, Sturm progressed into racing cars in 2020, driving for Allied-Racing in the ADAC GT4 Germany. With Dennis Fetzer as his teammate, Sturm managed to score a podium at the season-finale and ended up seventh in the standings. The following year saw Sturm enter the GT4 European Series. He scored his first victory in sportscar racing at Spa-Francorchamps before winning in Barcelona, earning himself sixth place overall. Additionally, three rounds in ADAC GT4 yielded a win in Hockenheim, and Sturm finished third in class at that year's 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

GT3 career

2022

Sturm progressed into GT3 competition in late 2021 where he drove in the final two races of the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Silver category with Allied, where he came 39th and 43rd in the races.

He partnered up with Sven Müller to make his debut in the ADAC GT Masters where he drove for Allied Racing. The pair finished tenth in the championship, helped there by two podiums at the Nürburgring. In parallel, the German competed in the Silver Cup class of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – also with Allied Racing – though he and his teammates would only score a best overall finish of 29th.

2023

After attaining one win in the Middle East Trophy and a podium in the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter, Sturm would join Pure Rxcing for a full campaign in the Bronze Cup class of the GTWC Endurance Cup, pairing up with Klaus Bachler and bronze-ranked Alex Malykhin. Despite winning the first race in class at Monza and finishing second at the 24 Hours of Spa, two retirements would jeopardise Pure Rxcing's campaign, as they finished fifth in the Bronze Cup standings. During the 2023–24 winter however, Sturm and his teammates would make good on the promise they'd shown over their European campaign, as they won the Asian Le Mans Series with two race victories and a further podium.

2024

The 2024 season saw Sturm, Pure Rxcing, and his 2023 teammates stepping into the newly formed LMGT3 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as fielding a Pro-rated entry in the Endurance Cup. Their season in the former started out in extraordinary fashion, as a strong opening run from Malykhin allowed Sturm and Bachler to maintain their advantage to win the Qatar 1812 km race. Two further podiums followed, as Sturm and his teammates finished third to the WRT-duo at Imola before losing out on victory in Spa to their sister car on the final lap.

At Sturm's first 24 Hours of Le Mans, his team started on pole for the race and were set to win but on hour 16 after a record-breaking four hour Safety Car, Bachler drove the car into the pit lane with a gear selection issue that took 25 minutes to fix. The stop left the car five laps down in class and undid their efforts as the trio finished the race in tenth.

The fourth round of the series – the 6 Hours of São Paulo – which was held exactly a month after Le Mans, would return on the calender after a decade. Sturm, Malykin and Bachler bounced back after a difficult Le Mans and won the race, still dominating the top spot of the LMGT3 class.

After bagging two more second place finishes at Lone Star Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Fuji, they would clinch the LMGT3 title at Fuji just before the final round of the championship at 8 Hours of Bahrain, and finished the championship with 139 points.

At the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, they had a more difficult campaign, only getting three points finishes – two of them being eighths – and ended the pro classification in 19th with only 12 points.

2025

Throughout the tail end of 2024 and January 2025, Sturm would defend his title in the 2024–25 Asian Le Mans Series with Manthey Racing and teammates Klaus Bachler and Antares Au. As predicted they stormed to the championship title with one win (obtained in the final race at the 2025 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi) and three podiums, – they would get podium points at the 2025 4 Hours of Dubai due to the team ahead being ineligible for them – finshing with a ten point margin to their Manthey sister car.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete ADAC GT4 Germany results

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

Complete GT4 European Series results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

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

Complete ADAC GT Masters results

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

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Joel Sturm
career summary at DriverDB.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Joel
2001 births
Living people
German racing drivers
GT4 European Series drivers
ADAC GT Masters drivers
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
Manthey Racing drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
21st-century German sportsmen