Roland Asch (born 12 October 1950) is a German race car driver from Ammerbuch, near Stuttgart. He was a distinctive figure on the German motor racing scene in the 1990s.

Roland Asch
Asch in 2008
Born (1950-10-12) 12 October 1950 (age 74)
Altingen, Ammerbuch, West Germany
RelativesSebastian Asch (son)
Roland Asch – AMG-Mercedes Tabac Original Sonax Team – AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse, 1994 DTM Donington Park.

Racing career

edit

Asch's career started in 1973 with slalom before moving to hillclimbing to become German Champion in 1981. After racing on circuits in the lower Trophy division of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, he made his Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) début at age 34 in 1985. From 1985 to 1994 Asch drove for Mercedes in DTM, moving to the German Supertouring Championship (STW) in 1995 for four years when the DTM faltered.

Apart from touring car racing, Asch was also busy in Porsche series. He won the German Porsche 944 Turbo Cup twice, in 1988 and 1989,[1] before winning the German Porsche Carrera Cup in 1991.

In his 50s, Asch returned to the German Porsche Carrera Cup, where he raced until 2003, bar a one-off race during the 2004 season. In 2004 he also drove races in the European Touring Car Championship for RS-Line Ford, the brand he runs a dealership for at Ammerbuch.

From 1999 until 2005 Asch raced the 24 Hours Nürburgring, aboard the Nissan Skyline GT-R entry of Japanese team Falken every year as their lead driver. He last appeared on the race in 2010, in a project made by German magazine Sport auto (Germany) and Porsche test driver Walter Röhrl, who did not take part for health reasons.

Currently, he is supporting his son Sebastian Asch, who is racing in the SEAT León Cup.

Incidents

edit

In 1994, Asch was involved in a controversial incident in DTM at the Alemannenring. Alessandro Nannini, racing for rivals Alfa Romeo, was running directly ahead of an already lapped Asch. While closing on a car in front, Nannini momentarily locked his rear wheels on the entry to the hairpin. He then regained control and took the racing line into the corner. Asch intentionally plowed into the side of Nannini, spinning him and damaging his car. As a result of this, Asch's Mercedes teammate Klaus Ludwig won the championship. After entering the pits, Nannini rejoined behind Asch and intentionally rammed him off the track in revenge at the same hairpin.

At the end of the 1999 and final STW season at the Nürburgring, Asch was again accused by some of hitting an opponent intentionally to support his Opel teammate Uwe Alzen. Asch was called into the pits for a jump start penalty, but later stated that his radio had failed. On the last lap, he was driving behind championship contenders and race leaders Alzen and Christian Abt, who were about to lap Abt's teammate Kris Nissen. With the championship already going Abt's way as per the running order, Nissen tangled with Alzen on the second-to-last corner, causing heavy damage to Alzen's car. Asch then hit the Audi of Abt in the last corner, handing the cup to Alzen, who came home second with his damaged car.[2] While this incident was initially considered a race accident,[citation needed] Asch was punished for ignoring the penalty. Alzen celebrated immediately after the race, but the championship was given to Abt in November after Asch's move on him in the last corner was considered deliberate action by a DMSB court of appeal, based on video evidence.[citation needed]

Racing record

edit

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos. Pts
1984 BMW 323i ZOL HOC
11
AVU AVU MFA WUN NÜR NÜR NOR NÜR DIE HOC HOC ZOL NÜR 44th 8
1985 ABR Ringhausen Rennsport Ford Mustang 5.0 GT ZOL
Ret
WUN
4
AVU
3
MFA
14
ERD
5
ERD DIE
5
DIE
7
ZOL
8
SIE
2
NÜR
10
4th 94
1986 Ford Ringshausen Ford Mustang 5.0 GT ZOL
5
HOC
19
NÜR AVU
Ret
MFA WUN 19th 29
Ford Sierra XR4 TI NÜR
4
ZOL NÜR
1988 BMK-Motorsport Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 ZOL
1

14
ZOL
2

11
HOC
1

8
HOC
2

9
NÜR
1

3
NÜR
2

4
BRN
1

4
BRN
2

11
AVU
1

14
AVU
2

Ret
MFA
1

2
MFA
2

2
NÜR
1

2
NÜR
2

Ret
NOR
1

2
NOR
2

3
WUN
1

9
WUN
2

Ret
SAL
1
SAL
2
HUN
1

7
HUN
2

11
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

2
2nd 242
1989 MS-Jet Racing Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 ZOL
1

12
ZOL
2

10
HOC
1

8
HOC
2

7
NÜR
1

5
NÜR
2

Ret
MFA
1

1
MFA
2

9
10th 161
Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo AVU
1

Ret
AVU
2

DNS
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

Ret
NOR
1

13
NOR
2

12
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

Ret
DIE
1

6
DIE
2

Ret
NÜR
1

8
NÜR
2

5
HOC
1

12
HOC
2

12
1990 Snobeck Racing Service Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo ZOL
1

8
ZOL
2

13
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

DNS
NÜR
1

20
NÜR
2

9
AVU
1

15
AVU
2

7
MFA
1

Ret
MFA
2

Ret
WUN
1

13
WUN
2

10
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

14
NOR
1

10
NOR
2

11
DIE
1

Ret
DIE
2

12
21st 13
Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 NÜR
1

13
NÜR
2

9
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

Ret
1991 Zakspeed Racing Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL
1

10
ZOL
2

7
HOC
1

8
HOC
2

Ret
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

Ret
AVU
1

10
AVU
2

7
WUN
1

7
WUN
2

7
NOR
1

3
NOR
2

3
DIE
1

7
DIE
2

7
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

5
ALE
1

Ret
ALE
2

Ret
HOC
1

7
HOC
2

6
BRN
1

3
BRN
2

2
DON
1

21
DON
2

Ret
9th 91
1992 Diebels Zakspeed Team Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL
1

7
ZOL
2

2
NÜR
1

5
NÜR
2

1
WUN
1

6
WUN
2

Ret
AVU
1

Ret
AVU
2

11
HOC
1

5
HOC
2

1
NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

6
NOR
1

2
NOR
2

5
BRN
1

5
BRN
2

5
DIE
1

12
DIE
2

10
ALE
1

Ret
ALE
2

11
NÜR
1

9
NÜR
2

7
HOC
1

6
HOC
2

Ret
6th 143
1993 AMG-Mercedes Sonax Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL
1

3
ZOL
2

4
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

4
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

3
WUN
1

6
WUN
2

4
2nd 204
Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 93 NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

17
NOR
1

5
NOR
2

2
DON
1

5
DON
2

5
DIE
1

1
DIE
2

5
ALE
1

Ret
ALE
2

6
AVU
1

1
AVU
2

1
HOC
1

6
HOC
2

3
1994 AMG Mercedes Tabac-Original Sonax Mercedes C-Class V6 ZOL
1

2
ZOL
2

2
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

11
NÜR
1

12
NÜR
2

6
MUG
1

7
MUG
2

4
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

4
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

DNS
DON
1

4
DON
2

8
DIE
1

2
DIE
2

11
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

3
AVU
1

5
AVU
2

2
ALE
1

8
ALE
2

7
HOC
1

8
HOC
2

9
6th 124
2000 Abt Sportsline 1 Abt-Audi TT-R 2000 HOC
1
HOC
2
OSC
1

15
OSC
2

Ret
NOR
1
NOR
2
SAC
1
SAC
2
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
LAU
1
LAU
2
OSC
1
OSC
2
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
HOC
1
HOC
2
21st 0

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
1995 Ford Team Eggenberger Ford Mondeo ZOL
1

Ret
ZOL
2

Ret
SPA
1

9
SPA
2

12
ÖST
1

9
ÖST
2

8
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

11
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

2
SAL
1

6
SAL
2

8
AVU
1

5
AVU
2

6
NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

9
8th 268
1996 Ford Mondeo Team Schübel Ford Mondeo ZOL
1

12
ZOL
2

Ret
ASS
1

12
ASS
2

10
HOC
1

14
HOC
2

10
SAC
1

12
SAC
2

14
WUN
1

13
WUN
2

13
ZWE
1

Ret
ZWE
2

Ret
SAL
1

Ret
SAL
2

9
AVU
1

9
AVU
2

9
NÜR
1

19
NÜR
2

16
14th 188
1997 Nissan Primera Racing Nissan Primera HOC
1

13
HOC
2

10
ZOL
1

21
ZOL
2

18
NÜR
1

9
NÜR
2

9
SAC
1

10
SAC
2

9
NOR
1

12
NOR
2

6
WUN
1

11
WUN
2

12
ZWE
1

13
ZWE
2

11
SAL
1

14
SAL
2

11
REG
1

Ret
REG
2

12
NÜR
1

11
NÜR
2

9
8th 285
1998 Nissan Primera Racing Nissan Primera HOC
1

15
HOC
1

10
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

4
SAC
1

Ret
SAC
2

3
NOR
1

3
NOR
2

6
REG
1

6
REG
2

7
WUN
1

Ret
WUN
2

DNS
ZWE
1

6
ZWE
2

3
SAL
1

22
SAL
2

11
OSC
1

10
OSC
2

13
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

21
8th 327
1999 Irmscher Sport Opel Vectra SAC
1

9
SAC
2

8
ZWE
1

10
ZWE
2

9
OSC
1

11
OSC
2

10
NOR
1

8
NOR
2

9
MIS
1

9
MIS
2

9
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

Ret
SAL
1

5
SAL
2

8
OSC
1

6
OSC
2

6
HOC
1

5
HOC
2

16
NÜR
1

5
NÜR
2

DSQ
10th 307

References

edit
  1. ^ Long, Brian (15 October 2008). Porsche Racing Cars: 1976 to 2005. Veloce Publishing Ltd. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-904788-45-4. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  2. ^ STW 1999 Nürburgring – Last Lap Chaos. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Porsche Carrera Cup Germany champion
1987–1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by Porsche Carrera Cup Germany champion
1991
Succeeded by