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.

Racing career

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

Incidents 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. While this incident was initially considered a race accident, 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.

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results (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 Pts 1984 BMW 323i ZOL HOC11 AVU AVU MFA WUN NÜR NÜR NOR NÜR DIE HOC HOC ZOL NÜR 44th 8 1985 ABR Ringhausen Rennsport Ford Mustang 5.0 GT ZOLRet WUN4 AVU3 MFA14 ERD5 ERD DIE5 DIE7 ZOL8 SIE2 NÜR10 4th 94 1986 Ford Ringshausen Ford Mustang 5.0 GT ZOL5 HOC19 NÜR AVURet MFA WUN 19th 29 Ford Sierra XR4 TI NÜR4 ZOL NÜR 1988 BMK-Motorsport Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 ZOL114 ZOL211 HOC18 HOC29 NÜR13 NÜR24 BRN14 BRN211 AVU114 AVU2Ret MFA12 MFA22 NÜR12 NÜR2Ret NOR12 NOR23 WUN19 WUN2Ret SAL1 SAL2 HUN17 HUN211 HOC12 HOC22 2nd 242 1989 MS-Jet Racing Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 ZOL112 ZOL210 HOC18 HOC27 NÜR15 NÜR2Ret MFA11 MFA29 10th 161 Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo AVU1Ret AVU2DNS NÜR16 NÜR2Ret NOR113 NOR212 HOC1Ret HOC2Ret DIE16 DIE2Ret NÜR18 NÜR25 HOC112 HOC212 1990 Snobeck Racing Service Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo ZOL18 ZOL213 HOC1Ret HOC2DNS NÜR120 NÜR29 AVU115 AVU27 MFA1Ret MFA2Ret WUN113 WUN210 NÜR1Ret NÜR214 NOR110 NOR211 DIE1Ret DIE212 21st 13 Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 NÜR113 NÜR29 HOC1Ret HOC2Ret 1991 Zakspeed Racing Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL110 ZOL27 HOC18 HOC2Ret NÜR14 NÜR2Ret AVU110 AVU27 WUN17 WUN27 NOR13 NOR23 DIE17 DIE27 NÜR14 NÜR25 ALE1Ret ALE2Ret HOC17 HOC26 BRN13 BRN22 DON121 DON2Ret 9th 91 1992 Diebels Zakspeed Team Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL17 ZOL22 NÜR15 NÜR21 WUN16 WUN2Ret AVU1Ret AVU211 HOC15 HOC21 NÜR17 NÜR26 NOR12 NOR25 BRN15 BRN25 DIE112 DIE210 ALE1Ret ALE211 NÜR19 NÜR27 HOC16 HOC2Ret 6th 143 1993 AMG-Mercedes Sonax Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 ZOL13 ZOL24 HOC12 HOC24 NÜR14 NÜR23 WUN16 WUN24 2nd 204 Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 93 NÜR17 NÜR217 NOR15 NOR22 DON15 DON25 DIE11 DIE25 ALE1Ret ALE26 AVU11 AVU21 HOC16 HOC23 1994 AMG Mercedes Tabac-Original Sonax Mercedes C-Class V6 ZOL12 ZOL22 HOC1Ret HOC211 NÜR112 NÜR26 MUG17 MUG24 NÜR16 NÜR24 NOR1Ret NOR2DNS DON14 DON28 DIE12 DIE211 NÜR14 NÜR23 AVU15 AVU22 ALE18 ALE27 HOC18 HOC29 6th 124 2000 Abt Sportsline 1 Abt-Audi TT-R 2000 HOC1 HOC2 OSC115 OSC2Ret NOR1 NOR2 SAC1 SAC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 21st 0

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results (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 ZOL1 ZOL2 SPA1 SPA2 ÖST1 ÖST2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAL1 SAL2 AVU1 AVU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 8th 268 1996 Ford Mondeo Team Schübel Ford Mondeo ZOL1 ZOL2 ASS1 ASS2 HOC1 HOC2 SAC1 SAC2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 AVU1 AVU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 14th 188 1997 Nissan Primera Racing Nissan Primera HOC1 HOC2 ZOL1 ZOL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 REG1 REG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 8th 285 1998 Nissan Primera Racing Nissan Primera HOC1 HOC1NÜR1NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 REG1 REG2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 8th 327 1999 Irmscher SportOpel VectraSAC1SAC2ZWE1ZWE2OSC1OSC2NOR1NOR2MIS1MIS2NÜR1NÜR2SAL1SAL2OSC1OSC2HOC1HOC2NÜR1 10th 307

References

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