Roland Asch on a wild ride through his own career

Three racing cars take participants through several decades of Roland Asch’s career at the BELMOT Classic Car Grand Prix. The 75-year-old from Swabia is driving two of them himself this weekend: together with his son Sebastian, he is competing in the Ford Sierra RS500 in the Golden Era touring car class. In the Class One Revival, he is also sharing a V8STAR with Michael Sadurski. A Mercedes 190 E was actually supposed to be added to the line-up. However, Asch ultimately decided against taking on three cars across different events: “That’s too much for me,” he says, explaining his decision to pull out.

Nevertheless, the Mercedes is part of this personal journey down memory lane. Asch describes the 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II as his favourite racing car and says he has practically “grown together” with it. He regularly competes in the Tourenwagen Golden Ära series with the car. This fits in well with his career: Asch enjoyed numerous successes in the German Touring Car Championship with Mercedes. He finished runner-up twice in the 190 series – in 1988 with the original model (190 E 2.3-16), and then in 1993 in the legendary Evo II version.

Together with his son Sebastian in the Ford Sierra RS500

In the #2 Ford Sierra RS500, Asch is once again sharing the cockpit with his son Sebastian. Father and son have competed together in this car on many occasions. At the BELMOT Classic Car Grand Prix, too, they have been among the best-known and most popular teams on the starting grid for years.

Roland Asch und Sebastian Asch steuern einen Ford Sierra RS500

Foto: Oldtimer-Grand-Prix

The Sierra’s livery is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the historic Bastos livery. As the name of the cigarette brand is no longer permitted for advertising purposes, ‘Bastos’ was promptly changed to ‘Bastis’ – a fitting tribute to Sebastian Asch.

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But as charming as the exterior nod may be, the racing car demands just as much respect behind the wheel. “Up to about 5,000 revs, not much happens,” says Roland Asch, describing the power delivery. Then the power kicks in “massively”. “The Sierra largely reflects the technical standards of the time: with an H-pattern gearbox, glass windows and no retrofitted ABS,” he lists. The narrow usable rev range places high demands on the driver. His son Sebastian is better at handling this characteristic, says his father appreciatively.

Return to the V8STAR

The V8STAR #11, which Roland Asch is driving at short notice at the Class One Revival, is quite different. Although he has not yet competed in this specific OGP car, he is very familiar with the concept. Back in the day, the V8STAR series featured racing cars that were largely technically uniform but had different body styles. The large-capacity V8 engine delivered plenty of torque even at low revs – a stark contrast to the sudden onset of turbo boost in the Sierra.

Roland Asch im V8STAR

Foto: Oldtimer-Grand-Prix

Asch competed in the V8STAR from 2001 to 2003. In the inaugural 2001 season, he raced for PoleVision Racing in a Jaguar S-Type silhouette. With two wins, he finished third in the championship – level on points with the runner-up, Marcel Tiemann. Asch celebrated both victories at the Nürburgring. In 2002, he finished fifth overall in a Ford Mondeo silhouette. The following year, he returned for a few races in an Opel Omega silhouette car from Irmscher Motorsport and won – once again at the Nürburgring.

His participation in the Class One Revival is therefore more than just a spontaneous extra race. With Asch, a V8STAR and the Nürburgring, a connection is being rekindled that was already extremely successful more than two decades ago.

Despite all the excitement surrounding the various racing cars, however, something else is crucial for Roland Asch today. For him, motor racing has now also become a shared experience with Sebastian: “The fact that I can race alongside my son today is the best thing for me. It’s a gift.”