When he contests the 24 Hours Nürburgring this June, sharing a car with his sons Johannes and Ferdinand, Hans-Joachim Stuck will close out his top-level motorsports driving career. Stuck, who turned 60 on New Year’s Day, has three victories in the classic German enduro for Touring Cars and GTs, including the inaugural running in 1970 as well as those of 1998 and 2004.
He began racing in 1969, at the Nürburgring, and although he preferred the longer races, eventually made 74 Formula One starts for the March, Brabham, ATS and Shadow teams. He says that standing on the podium after finishing 3rd in the 1977 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim is the highlight of his career.
Stuck also scored two wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and three in the 12 Hours of Sebring, and shared back to back World Endurance Championships with Derek Bell, racing a Porsche 962C in 1985 and 1986. Other major victories have come during stints driving for the Ford, BMW, Porsche, Audi and Opel factories, including the 1990 German Touring Car (DTM) crown for Audi. He had announced a previous retirement in 1995, but continued to race occasionally as it suited him.
Last August, Stuck underwent a brain operation to remove a blood clot, legacy of a crash in a long-distance race at the Nürburgring earlier in the year.
