Roland Asch - Incidents

Incidents

At the end of the 1999 and final STW season at the Nürburgring, Asch was 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, yet he was focused on racing like he always is, later stating that his radio had failed. Near the end of the race, he missed a braking point at the last chicane, ran over the grass and back on the track, hitting Audi's Christian Abt. While this incident was mainly considered a race accident, he was punished for ignoring the penalty, and some fans even called him Arsch. Alzen had celebrated immediately after the race, but the championship was given to Abt in November after video evidence was considered by the officials.

Similar incidents caused by others had occurred earlier. One case in 1990 involved a young Michael Schumacher as the culprit who decided the DTM championship in the first corner by taking out a contender.

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.

Well in his 50s, Asch has 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 some races in the European Touring Car Championship for RS-Line Ford, the brand he runs a dealership for at Ammerbuch.

Since the 1999 24 Hours Nürburgring, he races the Nissan Skyline GT-R entry of Japanese team Falken every year as their lead driver.

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