This year Hans finishes second in the German Touring Car Championship with Team Schnitzer in a BMW 320 turbo with wins in Diepholz, Salzburg, Zolder and at the Eifelrennen. In a BMW M1 he takes third place in the Procar Series, with victories at both Monaco and at the Norisring. He also wins the Macau Grand Prix with Team Schnitzer in a BMW 320 and takes third place driving the 1000 kilometre race at the Nürburgring in a BMW M1.

In Formula One with the German ATS team Hans picks up five world championship points, and wins the Procar Series (BMW M1) with victories in Zandvoort and Monza. He wins the Race of Champions in Mexico in a Ford.

"I also had an offer from Frank Williams, but he wasn't sure I could fit in the car. So we met in the pits at Watkins Glen at midnight, very sneaky, so I could try and see if I would fit in the car. I did, so he gave me an offer. However, because it was the team’s first year with two cars, I would have had to qualify for every race. It didn’t look like a very good deal, as they had no spare car and little money.”

“That was it for Formula One. Because I didn’t get any decent offers for 1980, I decided to return to my roots in touring cars.”

In Formula One, Hans earns two World Championship points with the Shadow-Ford team. In the Production World Championship he scores two wins in a BMW 320 Group 5 car.

"When my dad died on February 8 1978, I had to leave two days afterwards for the Grand Prix of South Africa. I couldn’t even qualify. I just wasn’t there mentally. So, I flew home the next day and spent the weekend with my mother. It took a while to get over my father’s death. He enjoyed every race I drove in as a kid. He taped all my Formula One races, and discussed them with me afterwards. He tried very carefully to persuade me to try this and try that, but he never put any pressure on me."

Hans moves to Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One team driving a Brabham BT 45 Alfa Romeo V12. He finishes seventh in the World Championship, taking podium finishes at Hockenheim and Zeltweg. In the German Touring Car Championship he picks up three wins in a BMW 320i.
“Bernie asked, ‘how much do you think you would like to earn?’ With March I got $2000 for a Formula One race, $1000 for a Formula 2 race. So I said, ‘You're Formula One, you have the famous Alfa engine, I think I should earn $100,000 per year.’ Bernie started to smile, then all of a sudden the phone rang. He explained that he was talking to Arturo Merzario from Italy, who was also in line to drive his car. He said: 'Yes, Arturo, I would like to offer you $30,000.' He hung up the phone and offered me $35,000, take it or leave it. I took it, of course. Then I found out that it was really his secretary calling and he was setting me up.“

"It was not only my most successful year, but it was also my best year because I still have a good relationship with Bernie. He was a good boss. Before the last race, the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Bernie told me, 'Hans if you go out and win this race, you'll be my driver for the next two years. If you don't win the race, I have to take Niki Lauda because they want a champion. I had the pole position but the clutch cable broke at the start. I knew I couldn't finish the race. That was it!”

This year Hans competes in Formula One with team March, wins eight championship points and comes fourth in the Monaco Grand Prix. In Formula 2 he picks up four wins in a March BMW 762.

Hans is underway in Formula One for the March Ford team. He wins the Formula 2 Jim Clark Memorial race at Hockenheim, Germany, and also the 9 Hours of Kyalami in South Africa driving a BMW 3.5 CSL. In the same car, he drives for BMW in the US IMSA Championship. He is named rookie of the year and finishes third in the championship with five victories, including the 12-hour race in Sebring together with Ronnie Peterson.

Hans completes his first Formula One race with team March in a 741 Ford in Argentina. His second race is in Brazil, and he crosses the line in fourth place. In total, Hans picks up six World Championship points, wins the Prix Rouge et Blanc, and is named rookie of the year.

He starts his second season in the European Formula 2 Championship with March in a BMW 742. He ends the season as runner-up, with four victories and two second places to his name.

Hans-Joachim remains a BMW works driver, competes in the European Touring Car Championship and wins the 4 Hours of Salzburg, Austria.

"I still remember my first Formula One race in Argentina. I didn't have a lot of chances to test, so the first time I drove the car was at the track in Argentina. I thought I was pretty good in the car. There was a double right-hand corner at the back of the track and I was going pretty well there, pretty fast. All of a sudden a red flash passed me on the outside. It was Niki Lauda in a Ferrari. I thought I might as well go home, I had no chance.”

Hans returns to BMW with Jochen Neerpasch. He participates in Formula 2 with team March in a BMW 732 and takes pole in his first race with the new BMW Formula 2 engine at the Nürburgring. He continues as a BMW works driver and competes in the European Touring Car Championship.  Furthermore, he wins the 6-hour race at the Nürburgring.

Hans changes teams and moves to the Ford factory team with mentor Jochen Neerpasch. In a Ford Capri RS he becomes the Drivers' Champion of the German Touring Car Championship. He also wins the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium with Jochen Mass in a Ford Capri RS.

Hans-Joachim competes in his first season as a BMW driver. He drives in the European Touring Car Championship for the Team Alpina, in a BMW 2002TI and a BMW 2800CS. In this year he also enters his first Formula 2 race at the Nürburgring in an Eifelland-Brabham BT30 Ford.

Jochen Rindt sports the first full-face helmet in this year. Hans is also given a full-face helmet by Erich Bitter. Together with his girlfriend Mucki, he creates his legendary helmet design, adding homemade white stars to the dark-blue helmet. This remains Hans’s trademark.

Hans starts in the German Touring Car Championship with Team Koepchen and a BMW 2002 ti, consequently celebrating his first big success – winning the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, together with C. Schickentanz. Unfortunately the team withdraws from the series due to financial problems.

“I learned a lot from my father, although we both had very different driving styles. He was less aggressive, but a very sensitive driver. At the beginning of my career it must have been terrible for him, because I was always sideways going round the turns. When I came into the pits, there were no bugs on the windscreen, they were on the door or the side of the car!"

Hans wins the Scuderia Hanseat driving course at the Nürburgring. One of the instructors, Hans Peter Köpchen, is so impressed by his performances that he offers him the chance to compete in his first race in a BMW 2002TI the following weekend. Hans finishes third in his first race, although he is forced to stop 17 times during the 300km race due to a problem with the throttle linkage.

“I was allowed to take my driving test at just 16. Normally, you have to be 18 in Germany, but I got my license at 16 with a special permit from the government. At first I could only drive if accompanied by my father. After half a year I was able to drive by myself. Hooray!”

“At just 9 years of age I was able to accompany my father to the Scuderia Hanseat driving courses at the Nürburgring. I was allowed to drive a BMW 700, as it was a private circuit.”

“My father bought me a BMW 600, on which the door opened at the front. It was a very funny looking car. We took the bodywork off the frame to give us a sort of open go-kart.”

Hans-Joachim is born on 1st January in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Christa-Maria and Hans Stuck, a famous racing driver and hill-climb champion.