Joachim Winkelhock

Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German racing driver who competed in the 1993, 1994 and 1996 seasons of the British Touring Car Championship.

Career
Joachim began racing in the German Formula Three Championship, even winning the 1988 season as well as that year's European Cup. In 1989, he entered Formula One with the small AGS team. He failed to qualify on 7 occasions and ended up quitting. He then joined 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 with the Schnitzer Motorsport team.

In 1993, he won the British Touring Car Championship in his BMW 318i with the BMW Motorsport Team, winning 5 of 17 rounds and beating second place and teammate Steve Soper by 13 points. He came 6th and 5th in the 1994 and 1996 seasons, respectively.

He won the 1994 Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship and the 1995 German Supertouring Championship. With former teammate Steve Soper and fellow BTCC driver Peter Kox, he won the Spa 24 Hours in a BMW 320i. In 1994 and 1998, he won the Macau Grand Prix's Guia touring car races. His last success for BMW was at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Schnitzer Motorsport BMW V12 LMR prototype.

In 2000, he joined Opel in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and in 2003 he retired from motorsport at the age of 43.

Life after racing
Joachim now runs his family's Waiblingen-based truck-crane and towing business.

A special edition of the BMW M5 has been made in honor of Joachim Winkelhock.