The team's origins lie in the German Formula 3 scene of the early 1980s. In its debut season Josef Kaufmann himself finished fourth, while a young Gerhard Berger claimed third place — an early sign that the outfit could attract and develop talent. The team's first drivers' title arrived in 1985, when Volker Weidler won the German Formula Three Championship. A quieter period followed before Arnd Meier took the B-Cup of the German F3 Championship in 1994, and the squad remained in the series through 2002.
In 2002 Josef Kaufmann Racing stepped into the Formula BMW ADAC championship as an additional programme, then refocused on it entirely in 2003. The series proved a fertile ground. Nico Hülkenberg — later a Formula 1 regular — won the Formula BMW ADAC title for the team in 2005, and Christian Vietoris repeated the feat the following year. When the ADAC and UK series merged into Formula BMW Europe in 2008, the team adapted quickly. Esteban Gutiérrez claimed the drivers' title in the inaugural Formula BMW Europe season, and together with Kazeem Manzur and Marco Wittmann also secured the teams' championship — the first in the outfit's history. In 2010 Robin Frijns swept both the drivers' and teams' titles, cementing the team's status as the dominant force in the category before Formula BMW Europe was discontinued.
With Formula BMW gone, Josef Kaufmann Racing joined the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2011. The transition was seamless: Frijns, already champion with the team in Formula BMW, added an Eurocup drivers' title to his collection. Stoffel Vandoorne — later a Formula 1 driver and Formula E champion — won the Eurocup for the team in 2012, continuing an unbroken line of star graduates.
The team also competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup alongside its Eurocup campaign, winning the teams' championship there in 2014 and 2015. Louis Delétraz captured the drivers' title in that series as well. In 2016 Lando Norris, destined for a prominent Formula 1 career, added yet another Eurocup drivers' championship to the team's record.
For 2017, Josef Kaufmann Racing signed Sacha Fenestraz among its driver roster. Despite being unable to retain the teams' title, Fenestraz delivered the drivers' championship. The 2018 campaign saw Yifei Ye — French F4 champion — join alongside former Red Bull Junior Richard Verschoor and karting graduate Clément Novalak. Ye finished third in the drivers' standings, but at the end of the season the team announced its withdrawal from the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship, closing a chapter that had produced an extraordinary sequence of champions.
Josef Kaufmann Racing's record in junior formulae is remarkable for its consistency: at least one drivers' title in every major series the team contested from 1985 onward. The roster of drivers who trained under its banner — Gerhard Berger, Nico Hülkenberg, Robin Frijns, Stoffel Vandoorne, Lando Norris, and Sacha Fenestraz — makes it one of the most prolific incubators of Formula 1 talent in European junior motorsport.