It was no ordinary duel: whenever Joko Winterscheidt gets behind the wheel, the spectators can expect an unusual race. The TV presenter had a race with Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg on BILSTER BERG under odd conditions: Joko in a 225-hp racing runabout, Hülkenberg in an old-school van with a lot of luggage and junk on the roof. Additionaly, the driver’s cabin was decorated in a very unique way: six different car scents and a wooden-ball seat cushion. “I’ve always wanted to drive one of these vans,” Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg commented.
For his rival, Joko Winterscheidt had chosen the dodgy van from a choice of three possible handicaps: an old DeLorean sports car DMC-12, known from “Back to the Future”, a stretch limousine including party people, or the trash-covered van. Which handicap would weaken the racing driver even more and give Joko a realistic chance of winning? That is the underlying principle of Joko’s new Saturday night show “Beginner gegen Gewinner”, which – with a little “Wetten, dass…” atmosphere – has just gone on air. In its first episode, the show included the beginner-winner duel between Joko and Hülkenberg. Yet both competitors played their cards close to their chests on the BILSTER BERG track: Hülkenberg drove the van on only three tyres at times and, despite handicaps, almost on the ideal line. Joko pushed hard, dared to overtake at some point – swearing as only the German comedian Stefan Raab has done so far – and won with only one car length ahead of Nico Hülkenberg. The race was moderated by ex-professional footballer Patrick Owomoyela.

The horsepower duel can be seen in the  ProSieben media library

© ProSieben/Willi Weber