Joest Racing

Lore & Background

Between 1998 and 2016, Joest Racing were strongly linked with Audi Sport GmbH and were responsible for assisting with development of their sports prototypes for participation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most notably the Audi R8, which scored a hat trick between 2000 and 2002. Along with the Le Mans ventures, Audi and Joest Racing also won several teams' championships together in both the American Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Prior to their partnership with Audi, Joest Racing was primarily a Porsche team, winning four Le Mans races with them between 1984 and 1997. Joest Racing have also assisted Mazda and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus with their DPi and Le Mans Hypercar efforts respectively.

Reader's Guide

Early years: As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began to race a Porsche 908/3 in the European Sportscar Championship, winning the driver's title. He then switched to Porsche 935s, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1980. The team won the DRM back to back with driver Bob Wollek, in 1982 and 1983. During the 1982 season, whilst the Porsche 956 was only available to the works team, Joest adapted a roof onto a Porsche 936 to enter the Group C World Endurance Championship. They would race the car into the 1983 season until they took delivery of their 956 prior to Le Mans.

Racing history: 1984–1989: Early successes: In 1984, in absence of the works team, Joest Racing would score the first of their fifteen wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Klaus Ludwig and Henri Pescarolo driving their 'lucky #7' car a Porsche 956, chassis number 117. In 1985, the works team returned, and despite having little factory support, they defended their title with Ludwig, Paolo Barilla and incognito German businessman 'John Winter' driving the #7 chassis number 117 again. This would make them the second team to score back to back wins with the same car, the other being JW Automotive whose Ford GT40 Mk.I won in 1968 and 1969. In 1986, 1988, and 1989 Joest won the ADAC Supercup title for teams and Wollek winning the drivers cup in 1989. They also took the Interserie title for drivers with Winter in 1985 and Bernd Schneider in 1991, and the teams title in 1991.

In 1989, FIA introduced the new 3.5 litre Formula One engine rule to Group C, which not many teams were happy about, because few, if any, such engines were available to privateer teams like Joest. The previous fuel economy based rules were gradually phased out in favour of short races with cars that were virtually two-seater Formula 1 cars; existing Group C cars such as Joest's Porsche 962s were given higher weights and lower fuel allocation to make them less competitive.

The team would instead compete in the IMSA GTP category beginning in 1990, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 with Wollek, Pescarolo, Frank Jelinski, 'Winter' and Hurley Haywood. With their Porsche 962 now being outmoded by the Nissans, Jaguars and Toyotas, the team would not score any more victories. In 1993, the Nissan and TWR Jaguar team had withdrawn, and the AAR Eagle Toyota would continue to dominate the series final year.