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Richard
Westbrook is a highly successful a top-level international
sports car racer with multiple titles to his name in the
Porsche Carrera Cup and Supercup, as well as having claimed
race wins in the FIA GT Championship and American Le Mans
Series on his debuts in both series last year. His early
career though was fought out in single seaters, and a young
Westbrook first grabbed everyone’s attention when he wound
up as runner up in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus Winter Series
in 1993, before graduating to the Formula Opel Euroseries
the next year. He won races that year, and again in the
single-seater series in 1995. The next year he stepped up to
F3 and took in part-campaigns in Germany and Austria,
resulting in wins in both. In 1999 he was back in the frame
in the Vauxhall Lotus Winter Series, winning again on his
way to the runner-up slot. Then came a switch of focus to
sports cars, and in 2002 Richard turned his attention to the
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. In 2003 he claimed the
runner up spot after a part campaign that netted him no less
than nine wins. However he went one better in 2004 and in
doing so claimed his first important title (with seven
wins). He was runner up again in 2005 after a partial
season, but set a record for wins (13) and pole positions
(9) that remains unchallenged today. Having contested a
handful of Porsche Supercup races in 2002, he returned to
the this tough international arena in 2005 in selected
events that didn’t clash with his UK programme and
immediately posted his intent by winning the season opener
in Bahrain. However 2006 turned out to be an even better
year and he finished on the podium in every Supercup race
(and claimed four wins), wrapping the title up with two
races to spare against a plethora of world-class opposition,
including VICI Racing regular, Uwe Alzen. That year
Westbrook, who was born in Chelmsford, Essex and now lives
in London, squeezed in four outings in the Porsche Carrera
Cup Great Britain, and winning three of them. The next year
he was in victorious form again, climbing onto the top step
of the podium several times on his way to a second
consecutive Supercup title. A first visit to the US saw him
immediately carting his dazzling reputation across the
Atlantic after he netted GT class pole position in the
Daytona 24 Hours. He also finished second in the Porsche
Carrera Cup Deutschland, with five wins. Last year the
Porsche factory driver stepped up another gear as he raced
in the FIA GT Championship, winning races and finishing
regularly on the podium, as well as fighting for honours in
the Le Mans Series. He also turned his attention stateside
again and on his ALMS debut (at Lime Rock) he finished
second, while his three appearances in the series culminated
in a win at Road America. Completing a busy year at the
top-level on both sides of the Atlantic he came an
impressive second in the Daytona 24 Hours. |
Johannes “Joe” Stuck is a
leading light in the new generation of fast, upcoming sports
car drivers that are moving up the established ranks
rapidly; but the 22-year-old is also the latest generation
of one of the most famous of all racing families – he has a
surname that is instantly recognisable to any racing fan and
his father is one of the most successful sports car drivers
ever, as was his father before him. Sporting excellence runs
deep in Stuck family genetics and as a youngster Johannes
marked himself out as a star of the future in both football
and skiing. However, despite achieving much success and
collecting medals, the lure of the high speed tarmac
challenge courses through the Stuck blood and it was
inevitable that the lure of the race track would take hold.
He kicked off his racing career in 2003 in the ADAC VW Lupo
Cup and in his rookie season he finished 8th overall in the
championship, an impressive debut performance. Another
generation of Stuck had arrived and was making itself known.
The next year the podium beckoned for Joe in the ADAC VW
Lupo Cup, before in 2005 he moved onto the Mini Challenge,
finishing fifth in the championship and then third in the
Mini World Finals. In 2006 Joe’s career really stepped up a
gear: he was a class winner in the 24 Hours of Dubai and in
the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring (both at the wheel of a BMW
120d) and took two wins in the VLN [Langstrecken
Meisterschaft Nürburgring] having quickly proved himself
highly adept at mastering the legendary Nürburgring. In
between these victories he took several podiums (including
wins) in the Mini Challenge. The next year he was a class
winner again in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring as well as
overall victory in the Silverstone 24 Hours (both with the
BMW Z4 Coupe), while he also claimed four class wins in the
VLN, stepped up to GT2 in the LMES, and ranged as far Japan
to turn in an excellent performance in the Tokachi 24 Hours.
Last year Joe contested a full year in the VLN stepping up
to the top class to drive a Land Motorsport Porsche 997 RSR.
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