Josef Knopp

Knopp began karting at the age of ten, competing until 2019.^[1] During his karting career, he most notably finished third in the 2016 Easykart International Grand Final in the 60cc class.^[2]

Following a testing programme in Formula 4 machinery with Mücke Motorsport in 2019, Knopp remained with the team to make his single-seater debut in the third round of the 2020 Formula 4 UAE Championship.^[3] Racing in the last three rounds of the winter series, Knopp scored a best result of fourth in race two of the final round of the season at Dubai.^[4] For the rest of 2020, Knopp raced with the team in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship,^[5] scoring a best result of eighth five times as he ended the year 12th in points.^[6][7] Despite testing FIA Formula 3 machinery towards the end of the year for Charouz Racing System,^[8][9] Knopp elected to go back to karting for 2021, signing with Tony Kart Racing Team to race in the KZ2 class in mainly WSK-organized races.^[10]

Returning to cars in 2022, Knopp joined RTR Projects to make his ADAC GT4 Germany debut alongside Matěj Pavlíček.^[11] Racing with the team for all but one rounds of the season, Knopp scored a best result of 13th twice, before parting ways with the team and racing for CV Performance Group in the finale.^[12] During the year, Knopp also made one-off appearances in ESET Cup Series and DTM Trophy for RTR Projects.^[13][14] The following year, Knopp returned with BWT Mücke Motorsport to race in his sophomore season in ADAC GT4 Germany alongside Rodrigo Almeida.^[15] In their only season together, Knopp scored points all but three times and scored a best result of seventh at Lausitzring to end the year 16th in points.^[16]

Joining W&S Motorsport for his third season in GT4 competition,^[17] Knopp began the year in the GT4 Winter Series, scoring one overall win and four more Pro-Am wins to end the winter third in the class standings.^[18] For the rest of the year, Knopp returned to ADAC GT4 Germany alongside Finn Zulauf,^[19] scoring wins at Norisring and Red Bull Ring as they clinched their maiden series title at the finale at Hockenheimring.^[20][21]

The following year, Knopp joined Oregon Team to race in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe alongside Enzo Geraci.^[22] The pair won at Le Castellet and Monza to take an early lead in the Pro standings,^[23][24][25] but after scoring only two podiums in the following four rounds, the pair finished runner-up to Adam Putera by five points.^[26]