ABOUT
NATIONALITY: Father Austrian / German, Mother British
AGE: 19 years, born 13 December 2004 in London, Camden Town
RESIDES: Switzerland, close to Geneva
LANGUAGES: English, French, German (trilingual) and Italian (learning)
INSPIRATIONS: Niki Lauda, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel
GOAL: To become a professional race driver - F1 world champion!
“My dream is to race all day, every day!”
Joshua
Josh Dufek
Racing driver - Austria
41
Race WINS
80
Podium finishes
24
Pole positions
Joshua Dufek, the young Austrian driver born to an Austrian/German father and a British mother, is one of the fastest and best racing drivers in his age group worldwide.
Having shone for the SAUBER Karting Team at the highest level internationally, and for both MP Motorsport and VAR in his single-seater career to date, Joshua has joined the burgeoning Peak Performance Management (PPM) stable to take the next steps on what all hope will be the path to Formula One (F1)...
A winner under an intense global spotlight from the age of eight, Joshua made a thunderous debut in karting in 2013 winning both the Vega Trofeo and the Swiss Championship in the same year. Championship wins in his Swiss homeland were followed by race wins and pole positions en route to a top four placing in the X30 Junior category of Germany’s ADAC Masters series, paving the way for Joshua to graduate to the international scene.
Being selected for the SAUBER Junior Team ahead of the 2019 campaign, Joshua could not have stepped up in a bigger way. He rose to the challenge despite being one of the youngest competitors in the OK Senior class, the highest category in international karting. Instantly running at the front of a field comprising around 100 of the world’s best drivers, he saved his best for last, taking pole position and dominating the wet race from start to finish at the CIK FIA World Championship at Alahärmä in Finland.
Having achieved 38 race wins, 51 podium finishes and 17 pole positions throughout his karting career, Joshua transitioned to Formula cars in 2020. At his first FIA F4 single-seater race in Navarra, he set a record lap time, achieved pole position in qualifying and finished the main race on the podium. During the entire 2020 campaign, Joshua would finish on the podium eight times and claim 14 top-5s, achieving a fantastic fourth place in the Spanish F4 championship – finishing on same points as third place overall.
Looking to make a bigger mark in cars, and embark on what is sure to be a swift ascension of the single-seater racing ladder, Joshua linked up with the increasingly renowned PPM operation run by former GP3 rivals Matt Parry and Kevin Korjus. Having set impressive times in testing, signed on to contest both the German ADAC and Italian national F4 series with Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) in 2021.
Competing in Europe's two most prestigious F4 championships, Josh claimed seven podium finishes across 2021, including a race win at Mugello, as well as multiple pole positions, capped by a clean sweep also at Mugello. His performances improved throughout the season, ensuring he would fight for victory each time he hit the track.
Stepping up to the more powerful F3 category to contest the European Championship (FRECA) for 2022, Josh quickly established himself as a frontrunner, challenging for overall podiums alongside wins in the Rookie class. As the best performing rookie over the second half of the season, in which he took three class wins in Austria and Spain, he eventually claimed the runners-up spot in the newcomers category.
