Hans-Joachim
Stuck

Hans-Joachim Stuck was born on 1 January 1951 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His father, Hans Stuck, drove for Auto Union in the 1930s and was runner-up in the 1936 European Championship. The son learned to drive as a boy at the Nürburgring, started his first race on the Nordschleife in 1969 and won the 24 Hours there in 1970, aged 19, in a BMW 2002ti. In 1972 he won the Spa 24 Hours with Jochen Mass in a Ford Capri RS2600. In 1974 and 1975 he raced the BMW 3.0 CSL in the German DRM and in the USA, where he was paired with Ronnie Peterson.

After some success in Formula Two with a March-BMW, Stuck entered Formula One with March in January 1974. He stayed with the team until 1976, drove for both Brabham and March in 1977, for Shadow in 1978 and for ATS in 1979. He started 74 Grands Prix in total. His best finish in the drivers' standings was eleventh in 1977. That year he took podium finishes with Brabham at the German and Austrian Grands Prix, and in the rain at Watkins Glen he led part of the United States Grand Prix. He never won a race or took a pole position.

After Formula One, Stuck stayed active in sportscar and touring car racing. In 1985 he was among the winners of the World Sportscar Championship title, and in 1986 and 1987 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Porsche 962. At the Nürburgring 24 Hours he won again with BMW in 1998 and 2004. In 1990 he took the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft title with Audi.

Stuck ended his racing career after the 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hours, driving a Lamborghini Gallardo with Dennis Rostek and his sons Ferdinand and Johannes. After gearbox problems, the team finished 15th overall. In April 2012 he was elected President of the German Motorsport Association, the Deutscher Motor Sport Bund.

Source: Wikipedia, “Hans-Joachim Stuck”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.