Career
After the death of his brother interrupted his career in 1985, he resumed later on, winning the 1988 German Formula Three Championship as well as that year's European Cup, at the unusually late age of 28. The next year was less successful, as he tried Formula One with the small AGS team. Failing to pre-qualify on 7 occasions, Winkelhock then linked up with BMW Motorsport in touring car racing and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft.
He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1990 and 1991 with a BMW M3 entered by Schnitzer Motorsport.
His first title was the 1993 British Touring Car Championship. There, 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 (STW). 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.
In 2000, he joined Opel in the new Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and in 2003 he announced his retirement from motor racing at the age of 43.
He 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 Joachim Winkelhock.
Read more about this topic: Joachim Winkelhock
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