Joel Sturm (born 29 November 2001) is a German racing driver. He was the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 champion, driving for Manthey Pure Rxcing.
Early career GT4 Having begun his career in karts at the age of eight, Sturm progressed into racing cars in 2020, driving for Allied-Racing in the ADAC GT4 Germany. With Dennis Fetzer as his teammate, Sturm managed to score a podium at the season-finale and ended up seventh in the standings. The following year saw Sturm enter the GT4 European Series. He scored his first victory in sportscar racing at Spa-Francorchamps before winning in Barcelona, earning himself sixth place overall. Additionally, three rounds in ADAC GT4 yielded a win in Hockenheim, and Sturm finished third in class at that year's 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
GT3 career 2022
Sturm progressed into GT3 competition in late 2021 where he drove in the final two races of the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Silver category with Allied, where he came 39th and 43rd in the races.
Sturm partnered up with Sven Müller to make his debut in the ADAC GT Masters where he drove for Allied Racing. The pair finished tenth in the championship, helped there by two podiums at the Nürburgring. In parallel, the German competed in the Silver Cup class of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – also with Allied Racing – though he and his teammates would only score a best overall finish of 29th.
2023
After attaining one win in the Middle East Trophy and a podium in the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter, Sturm would join Pure Rxcing for a full campaign in the Bronze Cup class of the GTWC Endurance Cup, pairing up with Klaus Bachler and bronze-ranked Alex Malykhin. Despite winning the first race in class at Monza and finishing second at the 24 Hours of Spa, two retirements would jeopardise Pure Rxcing's campaign, as they finished fifth in the Bronze Cup standings. During the 2023–24 winter however, Sturm and his teammates would make good on the promise they'd shown over their European campaign, as they won the Asian Le Mans Series with two race victories and a further podium.
2024
The 2024 season saw Sturm, Pure Rxcing, and his 2023 teammates stepping into the newly formed LMGT3 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as fielding a Pro-rated entry in the Endurance Cup. Their season in the former started out in extraordinary fashion, as a strong opening run from Malykhin allowed Sturm and Bachler to maintain their advantage to win the Qatar 1812 km race. Two further podiums followed, as Sturm and his teammates finished third to the WRT-duo at Imola before losing out on victory in Spa to their sister car on the final lap.
At Sturm's first 24 Hours of Le Mans, his team started on pole for the race and were set to win but on hour 16 after a record-breaking four hour Safety Car, Bachler drove the car into the pit lane with a gear selection issue that took 25 minutes to fix. The stop left the car five laps down in class and undid their efforts as the trio finished the race in tenth.
The fourth round of the series – the 6 Hours of São Paulo – which was held exactly a month after Le Mans, would return on the calendar after a decade. Sturm, Malykin and Bachler bounced back after a difficult Le Mans and won the race, still dominating the top spot of the LMGT3 class.
After bagging two more second place finishes at Lone Star Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Fuji, they would clinch the LMGT3 title at Fuji just before the final round of the championship at 8 Hours of Bahrain, and finished the championship with 139 points.
At the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, they had a more difficult campaign, only getting three points finishes – two of them being eighths – and ended the pro classification in 19th with only 12 points.
Joel Sturm won the , an annual award presented by Porsche AG to recognize the world's most successful privateer racing driver competing with Porsche machinery in a customer racing team, in 2024.
2025
Throughout the tail end of 2024 and January 2025, Sturm would defend his title in the 2024–25 Asian Le Mans Series with Manthey Racing and teammates Klaus Bachler and Antares Au. As predicted they stormed to the championship title with one win (obtained in the final race at the 2025 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi) and three podiums, – they would get podium points at the 2025 4 Hours of Dubai due to the team ahead being ineligible for them – finishing with a ten point margin to their Manthey sister car.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition 2017 ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf - X30 Senior 25th 2018 ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf - X30 Senior 13th 2019 Kerpen Winterpokal - X30 Senior 8th Deutsche Elektro-Kart-Meisterschaft (DEKM) ADAC Kart Masters - X30 Senioren Fuldaer AC 24th
Racing record Racing career summary
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2020 ADAC GT4 Germany Team Allied-Racing1200011007th2021 ADAC GT4 Germany Team Allied Racing610231035th GT4 European Series - Silver Allied Racing122213876th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 200000NC GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver00000NC 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP1010001N/A3rd Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - V6 PROsport Racing10000??2022 ADAC GT Masters Allied-Racing14000210610th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 400000NC GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver00001024th2022-23 Middle East Trophy - GT3 Pure Rxcing21001486th2023 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Herberth Motorsport40001314th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Pure Rxcing50000127th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Bronze1102695th2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Pure Rxcing52013761st2024 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3 Manthey Pure Rxcing 8 2 0 0 6 139 1st GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Pure Rxcing500001219th2024-25 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Manthey Racing 6 1 0 0 3 86 1st2025 Middle East Trophy - GT3 Herberth Motorsport100000NC GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup400000NC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 Dinamic GT400000NC Falken Motorsports41002 24 Hours of Nürbugring - SP9 Dinamic GT10001N/A3rd2025-2624H Series Middle East - GT3Herberth Motorsport100000NC2026Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9Dinamic GT 24 Hours of Nürbugring - SP910000N/A5thEuropean Le Mans Series - LMGT3Proton Competition100002410th*24H Series - GT3200004624thGT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupCar Collection Motorsport100000NCIntercontinental GT ChallengeDinamic GTCar Collection MotorsportHigh Class Racing300001617th*GT World Challenge AsiaAbsolute Racing
* Season still in progress.
Complete ADAC GT4 Germany results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2020 Team Allied-Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 SAC1 SAC2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 OSC1 OSC2 7th 100 2021 Team Allied-Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport OSC1 OSC2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 5th 103
Complete GT4 European Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2021 Allied-Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Silver MNZ1 MNZ2 LEC1 LEC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 CAT1 CAT2 6th 87
Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2021 Allied-Racing Dennis Fetzer Nicolaj Møller Madsen Luca-Sandro Trefz Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport SP10 54 283rd 2025 Dinamic GT Bastian Buus Matteo Cairoli Loek Hartog Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) SP9 1403rd3rd 2026 Dinamic GT Bastian Buus Michael Christensen Loek Hartog Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) SP9 155 6th 5th
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos. Points 2021 Allied-Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Silver MON LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT NC 0 2022 Allied-Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Silver IMO LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H HOC CAT 24th 10 2023 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Bronze MNZ LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT 5th 69 2024 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Pro LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR MNZ JED 19th 12 2025 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Gold LEC MNZ SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT 10th 30 2026 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) Pro-Am LEC MNZ SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR ALG NC 0
Complete ADAC GT Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2022 Allied-Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R OSC1 OSC2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LAU1 LAU2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 10th 106
Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) + Year Team Class Car Engine123456Pos.Points 2023 Herberth Motorsport GT Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DUB1 DUB2 ABU1 ABU2 4th 31 2023–24 Pure Rxcing GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 SEP1 SEP2 DUB ABU1 ABU2 1st 76 2024–25 Manthey Racing GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 SEP1 SEP2 DUB1 DUB2 ABU1 ABU2 1st 86
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points 2024 Manthey Pure Rxcing LMGT3 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 QAT IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ BHR 1st 139 * Season still in progress.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2024 Manthey PureRxcing Klaus Bachler Alex Malykhin Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) LMGT3 273 41st 14th
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints 2026 Proton Competition LMGT3 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 13th* 10*
References
External links
Joel Sturm career summary at DriverDB.com