top of page

NEWS 2016

Wintertraining in Castelleto (Italy) just before Christmas

December 2016

Joshua driving fast and regular in very icy and foggy conditions. And Alberto, his mechanic, doing a fantastic job despite the harsh weather.

 

Happy 12th Birthday Joshua!

December 2016

From Sarah Dufek, Joshua's mum: 
"Happy 12th Birthday Darling Joshua. It felt like a miracle when you were born, so perfect and so peaceful. You've blessed us all with your wonderful character. You're calm, kind, loving, intelligent, popular, quietly determined and wise beyond your years!!! It's been a pleasure to raise you, and a gift to share these years with you. We couldn't be more proud. Continue to live life with enthusiasm and passion. We hope all your dreams will come true. Keep Racing like the star you are!!!! 
All our love always, Mummy, Papa, Ebony Rose, Luke, Galla and Thunder "’

​

Josh meeting with Maximilian Buhk at HTP Motorsport near Frankfurt, Germany.

Maxi Buhk has just become the 2016 driver Champion of the Blancpain GT Series

November 2016
HTP Motorsports congratulating Josh on his fabulous win in Belgium! 11 Nov 2016​

 

 

Josh Dufek Karting | X30 Cadet | Mariembourg | Belgium
30 October 2016

An incredible win for Joshua Dufek, (Josh Dufek) this weekend in Belgium at Mariembourg....  

 

Big Thanks to Christian Voss, CV Racing Team, Bruno his Mechanic and Alberto Martinez Romeu for the preparation.

​

Even after smashing up his face in an accident before the race, Joshua smashes the final.... driving against fierce competition he proves once again his intelligent driving skills, his commitment, strength, coolness, retaliation and of course his undeniable speed!!!! A very special occasion especially as the whole family were there this weekend to bask in the glory.

​

There was even a natural 'fly-by' during prize giving making the moment more magical!!!

Race 1: Josh P2 after first Race. But Josh receives a 5sec penalty for apparently changing line on finishing line in the fight for 2nd place.

So he had to start P5 in final instead of P2.

 

Race 2: He did an amazing final, fought place for place and won the race with an amazing pass in the final corner.

Josh also did the fastest lap in the final race demonstrating how he matured in the higher category over the last 6months; he looked unshakable, very calm and precise the whole weekend.

 

The final race was really intelligent driving indeed, and was also proof of Joshua’s resilience, overtaking skills and speed!

 

Here are some comments from other drivers and heads of other teams:

 

"You are very fast! Are you doing the world championship next year?"

 

"Your overtake in the last corner was incredible"

 

"One of the most intelligent races I have seen from a pilot in this category"

Belgium Championship | X30 Challenge | SPA Francorchamps
25 September 2016

 

Joshua fast all weekend long finishing 5th in top group. The rest of the field finished with a more than 5 second gap...’

ADAC Kart Cup | X30 Junior | Wackersdorf 
11 September 2016

 

Almost 40 starters, fierce competition and Joshua finishes with a top 10 place marking the 2nd fastest lap time in the final race. With a better tire choice, we could have finished on a podium today!’

Race X30 Cadet | Belgium | Genk 
21 August 2016​

 

 

Race X30 Cadet - Belgium, Genk - 21 August 2016: Josh very quick all weekend long. Starting from far back (18th position) in final race, Joshua overtakes one kart after another finishing 6th place; marking the fastest lap of the final as he flew through the field. With a bit more luck and without being pushed off the track in Race 1, Joshua could have had a podium finish today!

X30 ADAC Kartcup | Germany | April 2016

 

Westdeutscher ADAC KartCup - Kerpen / Germany - 10 April 2016: Joshua had a great start to his first ever test race in a X30 kart. Despite a lack of experience and his tiny size in comparison to the others, Josh finished 8th out of 25 guys with most of them 14 or 15 years of age. He was one of the fastest and could have even finished further up, but a bad start in  Race 1 put him last going into the first lap. Nevertheless, thanks to his speed and overtaking skills he managed to finish 12th in Race 1 and 8th in Race 2. Please see some of Joshua’s overtaking moves below… (to watch the entire Race 1&2 please refer to the 'Gallery - Video' section)

 

ADAC Masters | Frankfurt Hahn
8 May 2016​

 

 

ACV Rhein Main KartCup | Frankfurt Hahn | Germany
24 April 2016

ACV Rhein Main KartCup - Frankfurt Hahn / Germany - 24 April 2016: What a race! 2nd race only in the X30 category and a podium finish! Joshua improving from session to session marking the second quickest time of all pilots in the Final Race and finishing on the podium in 3rd place. What an achievement so early on in the new category. Please see below for some highlights as well as in the 'Gallery – Video' section for the entire race.

Geneva Auto Show

Josh at the Geneva auto-salon already getting the feeling for the tyres!!!

 

Josh meets Ralph Schumacher and Bernd Schneider

First time in a OKJ kart, a sub 47sec lap time and a very happy Joshua meeting with Ralph Schumacher towards the end of an amazing day! 

 

Joshua meeting Bernd Schneider, the German record DTM champion, during his successful test in Kerpen, Germany

 

Josh testing a much bigger and faster kart (OKJ category) at Michael Schumacher's race track in Kerpen/Germany for the first time. 

Joshua driving immaculate, decisive and regular showing off his perfect lines at South Garda Karting track...​

Joshua flying in Lonato, Italy during his test for Babyrace...

Italy

Joshua during his successful test for Babyrace in Italy: starting quickest, improving throughout and finishing fastest at 55.02 (54.90 theoretical time). Italy, WSK, here we come…

F1 Team 2016

Joshua enjoys having his picture taken with Esteban Gutierrez, the official F1 2016 team Haas driver and reserve driver at Ferrari. On the race track in Italy (South Garda/Lonato), Josh was flying around the racetrack in his usual, very fast fashion: quickest in both dry and wet conditions!!…

Physical Training

Josh training in all weathers...true determination!…

Josh celebrates his birthday in true racing passion

Joshua celebrating his birthday with his mates at Payerne racetrack in Switzerland. Joshua flying around the track and even his dad (in a much stronger engine kart) has to fight hard to keep up with him...‪ ‪#‎purepassion‬

Winter Training | Italy | 27 December 2015

Joshua flying during winter training at La Conca (Italy) beating this year’s pole position winning time of the WSK (World Series of Karting)!

Joshua the 2015 Supermini runner-up Swiss Champion
Ampfing | Germany | 19-20 September 2015

 

Joshua has won everything up to the final consistently being the quickest pilot all weekend long (including Friday’s & Saturday’s training session). On Sunday, he wins the official training, the qualifying and both race1 and race2 – see here for race summary Ampfing SKM | Qualification through to Race 2 | 2015 09 20

 

Having closed the gap to Mike Müller in points (both 289 going into the final), Joshua just has to finish one more time ahead of Mike. Starting from pole position for the third time today, Joshua is fighting with Mike for first place, when he gets smashed off the track in curve 4/5 from behind from another driver (kart no 2, who receives a 10sec penalty for smashing Josh off). With a few laps remaining Joshua re-joins last with half a lap behind. Despite knowing that he has lost the title race, he pushes his kart back on the track, re-finds his rhythm straight away and drives the last 5 laps in his usual fast and regular fashion – see here for race summary Ampfing SKM | Final Race | 2015 09 20

 

Joshua finishes as the runner-up champion of the 2015 Swiss championship. Everyone, the team & family very proud of Joshua who stayed calm, very focused and drove impeccable all weekend long. After a few initial tears the first 30 seconds when exiting his kart, Joshua’s first words: “We have given 100% and that’s all we can do. We will come back even stronger to lift the title next year”

 

Up to this point, Joshua has shown an impeccable performance putting him in the perfect position to lift the 2015 Swiss Championship title in the Supermini category. He has won the official training, the qualifying, both races 1&2 and started 3 times from pole position including the final race. Please see below as Joshua gets smashed off the track from behind, getting his 2ndSwiss championship title ambitions destroyed (from kart no 2, who receives a 10sec penalty for smashing Josh off)

Preview: Final countdown… Josh racing for his second “Swiss Championship Title” in Ampfing (Germany) next week 19/20 September. We will keep you posted…

Levier | France | 9 August 2015

“What a Race Performance – Josh Dufek the Rain King! Josh strikes back winning the triple – that is all 3 races in wet conditions on slicks (no rain tires allowed)! Incredible driving – very regular and fast (fastest lap in Race 2 and Final)!! Having taken 70 points plus 3 points for the fastest lap in the final, Josh is back in 2nd place fighting for the championship title in the final race in Ampfing Germany on 20 September. Mike Müller, 2 years older than Josh and currently in first place with a small point lead, is the same driver that Joshua already beat in 2013 to lift the Swiss Championship title in the Mini category.”

 

Race 1: The track is drenched, the rain is pouring, conditions terrible… Joshua starts at 3rd place from the qualifying. Joshua moves to 2nd, there is a final battle and Joshua flies through the finish in 1st place.

 

Race 2: Conditions remain difficult. Very wet, the rain continues to pour down. All superminis racing in slicks. Joshua takes the lead and remains ahead throughout the whole race. He makes the fastest time of the race and wins 10.3 seconds ahead of the kart in second place.

The Final Race:  Joshua tore up the track, again with the fastest time and super regular driving; especially when the pressure was mounting in the middle of the race from behind (see below lap 6 (1:07.947), lap 7 (1:07.909) and lap 8 (1:07.961). He is the only driver, that manages to go below the 1:08 time handle. Faultless driving, finishing 11.7 seconds in front of his teammate and lapping others, giving him his third thrashing win of the day!!!!

See final race summary here Levier SKM Final Race 2015 08 09

Josh meets Rio in Greece​

July 2015

 

“Joshua Dufek & Luke Dufek with Man United legend Rio Ferdinand. Joshua and his brother Luke very proud to have bumped into Rio and have a picture taken whilst holidaying in Greece.”

Vesoul | France | 5 July 2015​

“Joshua second quickest in both official training and qualifying. Finishes only 5th in first races but fights back in Race 2 to finish 2nd.

In the final, Joshua is running in 3rd place putting pressure on the kart in 2nd place. Duelling for 2nd place he gets pushed off the track losing 5 places in the process.

With 4 laps to go, he fights back from 8th place finishing 4th. With a little more luck, he could have quite easily finished 2nd or even won the race.”

See the final race below…

Mirecourt | race day news | 14 June 2015
 

Josh is treated to a new racing suit after his super win in Wohlen. Sadly he had technical issues in Mirecourt which interfered with his times…Although he fought back to 2nd place in the final, he was not able to complete the race due to a technical issue that forced Josh to retire his kart a few laps from the finishing line.

 

Wohlen | race day news | 25 May 2015

Joshua has a fantastic win at Wohlen and finishes first.

Watch the final race video here…

Laghi Castelletto in Italy on 10 April 2015.

By the final race Josh gets off to a great start by gaining 3 places. Running in 3rd position after the start, Josh gets pushed off the track. Joshua re-joins the field in last position but fighting back strongly. He regains 10 places finishing the race in 8th position.

Summary of 2013 and 2014 seasons

After winning both the Swiss Championship and the Vega Trofeo (category Mini) in 2013, last year proofed to be rather complicated with a number of mechanical issues.

 

The last race of the 2014 Swiss Championship summarizes perfectly how the 2014 season in the Super-mini category went:

After finishing 3rd in both Race1 & Race2, Josh was fighting for 2ndplace in the final when the fuel hose came loose in lap 6 forcing Josh to retire his kart on the track whilst watching the others finishing the race. See video here soon.

 

Josh Swiss Champion 2013
Joshua – Winner of the 2013 Vega Trofeo
bottom of page