Jo Winkelhock

CHAMPION 1993

The younger brother of F1 racer Manfred Winkelhock, who was killed in a world sportscar race at Mosport Park in Canada in a Kremer Porsche 956 in 1985, Jo’s burgeoning single-seater career was put on hold – but the desire to race remained strong in him and he was back on the career ladder in German F3 in ’88, taking the title.

He attempted to graduate to F1, but was saddled with an uncompetitive AGS and failed to pass the prequalifying stages on his seven attempts.

Salvation came in the shape of the Schnitzer team. He became a mainstay of BMW’S DTM challenge and picked up a couple of victories, but his big success came in the UK when he joined the BTCC in 1993. The rear-wheel-drive car was suited to the British tracks and the German mopped up. As Alfa Romeo ramped up the chase for aerodynamics in tin-top racing, BMW slipped down the pecking order and Winkelhock’s star faded. By that stage, he was already spreading his racing across the globe with a partial attack on the Japanese Touring Car Championship, a series that he also contested in 1995.

A return to the BTCC in 1996 with Schnitzer brought him four more victories, taking his career total to 13.