Joachim Winkelhock
Joachim Winkelhock is a German motor racing 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 where he would fail to qualify for a race before being replaced mid season with driver Yannick Dalmas. After his brief stint in Formula One Winkelhock would later race in Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft until 2003. The height of Winkelhock's career was his 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans win for BMW. Winkelhock is part of a racing family with his late older brother Manfred Winkelhock, his younger brother, Thomas Winkelhock, and his nephew, son of Manfred, Markus Winkelhock 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 as well as that year's F3 European Cup. He progressed the following year to Formula One with the small French AGS team, who paired him with his future touring car rival Gabriele Tarquini; Winklehock's brief time in F1 was unsuccessful, failing to pre-qualify the car on seven occasions. His reputation however remained strong enough that he was subsequently hired by BMW Motorsport for German's premier touring car racing series the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, first for the Bigazzi and then Schnitzer teams. He finished sixth, seventh and eighth 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 races for BMW and Schnitzer.File:DSC00029.jpg|left|thumb|Winkelhock driving for BMW at Brands Hatch during the 1994 British Touring Car Championship season.
When BMW exited the DTM at the end of 1992, Winkelhock moved with the manufacturer and Schnitzer to the British Touring Car Championship, where he and teammate Steve Soper dominated the first half of the 1993 season. The pair took seven wins from the first eight rounds. 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, and in 1995, he won the German Supertouring Championship. He also triumphed in the 1995 Spa 24 Hours, and the 1994 and 1998 Macau Grand Prix's Guia touring car races. His last success for BMW came at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won driving the BMW V12 LMR prototype run by Schnitzer Motorsport.File:Joachim Winkelhock DTM.jpg|thumb|left|Winkelhock driving the OPC Team Phoenix Opel Astra at the Sachsenring during the 2002 DTM season.
In 2000, Winkelhock joined Opel in the new Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. In his first season in the new DTM, Winkelhock was competitive, winning at the Norisring and finishing fifth 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.
Winkelhock runs his family's Waiblingen-based truck-crane and towing business, occasionally getting personally involved in recovering crashed trucks.
A special edition of the BMW M5 has been made in honor of Winkelhock.
A 2005 poll run by Motor Sport magazine voted Winkelhock the 16th greatest touring car driver ever. Winkelhock is nicknamed "Smokin' Jo".
Racing record
Complete German Formula Three results
Complete Formula One results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | |
| 1989 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH23B | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | BRA DNPQ | SMR DNPQ | MON DNPQ | MEX DNPQ | USA DNPQ | CAN DNPQ | FRA DNPQ | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
Complete European Touring Car Championship results
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
† Not eligible for series pointsComplete Italian Touring Car Championship results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | |
| 1992 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | S1 | MNZ 1 14 | MNZ 2 4 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | 18th | 10 |
| 1994 | Scuderia Bigazzi | BMW 318i | MNZ 1 10 | MNZ 2 9 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | 26th | 3 | |
| 1996 | Scuderia Bigazzi | BMW 320i | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | VAL 1 7 | VAL 2 17 | 23rd | 4 |
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results
Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results
Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
| 1994 |  Complete Bathurst 1000 results24 Hours of Le Mans resultsMacau Grand Prix Guia Race results |