🇦🇹 Markus Winkelhock

Markus Winkelhock is a professional endurance racing driver holding FIA Platinum grading, the strongest full-professional classification for sportscar and GT racing. He races primarily in GT World Challenge Europe for Eastalent Racing and the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie for Scherer Sport PHX, competing in GT3 machinery across multiclass and shared-driver formats that field champions and graded professionals alongside semi-professional entrants.[1]

Winkelhock's career spans 19 seasons from Formula 3 Euro Series in 2003 through to the present day. Early success came in single-seaters: he won twice in Formula 3 Euro Series in 2003 and three times in Formula V8 3.5 in 2005, both campaigns yielding multiple podiums. He made a Formula 1 appearance for Spyker at the 2007 European Grand Prix. His endurance racing record is built on consistency in two dominant series. The Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie has been his most successful ground, with a win and ten podiums across 24 starts; GT World Challenge Europe has yielded a podium from 27 starts. Multiclass endurance racing has also provided opportunity: eight starts in the 24H Series produced two wins and three podiums, and two podium finishes came from eight attempts at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He has raced for established operations including Car Collection Motorsport across 23 starts in ADAC GT Masters.[2]

The fields Winkelhock races in regularly include Maro Engel, a 2024 GT World Challenge Europe champion and Platinum-graded driver with 87 starts in that series, whom he matches closely; Christopher Mies, a 2021 ADAC GT Masters champion and 2016 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie winner with extensive graded professional experience, typically finishes ahead. Earlier in his career he shared grids with Nico Rosberg, who went on to win the 2016 Formula 1 championship and won the 2005 GP2 Series, finishing ahead of him on six occasions. The 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours campaign is currently in progress with a podium finish so far.