The Opel fan in the DSCC
One of the welcome new faces in the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup this season is German racer Steffan Irmler, who has committed to all four events in his Super Touring Opel Vectra.
Irmler (50) hails from Diepholz in Germany and is making a tremendous effort to travel to all four events. He’s already proved to be a popular member of the DSCC field as learns the UK tracks.
“I’ve been racing since I was 18, in 1988. In Germany we have the VLN long-distance races at the Nurburgring and I started with that for several years. Then as I started my company I had no time for racing and also no money. So I had to put all my time into work but in the last six or seven years I started racing again. Opel was always my favourite and I did some Opel tuning in my earlier years so this is what we are racing. Everything is Opel and I have the Astra and the Vectra.
The Astra was raced by Mike Briggs in South Africa in the 1994 Touring Car Championship and the Vectra is a 1997 test car from Opel. It was developed for 1998 and 1999, as Steffan explains. “Roland Asch raced this car in ’99 in the German Super Touring Car Championship. It is a famous car in Germany because in the last race at the Nurburgring Asch beat Christian Abt with the Audi in the last corner and Abt lost the championship and only 14 days later at the Nurburgring Abt got his title over Uwe Alzen in the Opel. So everybody knows this car.
“This year we are coming to all four races in the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup. We did Silverstone in May and Donington and Brands Hatch in June. Then we will do Oulton Park at the end of August, which is my favourite. I know Oulton Park only from videos but it looks so great. I think they are the four best tracks in the UK and they are very famous.
“Last year I came to the Silverstone Classic but I don’t know the other UK tracks. That was my first experience. At Silverstone in May conditions in qualifying were very tricky and I had spin into the gravel, which was not so funny but I was learning and we had fun. The surface was very slippery. We cannot become World Champion but we can have fun.
“I plan to race in the Touring Car Legends event in Germany in early August at Oschersleben. But the main thing for us this year is the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup. The reception here has been perfect. Everybody is friendly and we got lots of information and help from Dave Jarman, Jonny Westbrook, Andrew Warner and so on. It is really good and we are feeling at home.”
Source: Paul Lawrence.
Irmler (50) hails from Diepholz in Germany and is making a tremendous effort to travel to all four events. He’s already proved to be a popular member of the DSCC field as learns the UK tracks.
“I’ve been racing since I was 18, in 1988. In Germany we have the VLN long-distance races at the Nurburgring and I started with that for several years. Then as I started my company I had no time for racing and also no money. So I had to put all my time into work but in the last six or seven years I started racing again. Opel was always my favourite and I did some Opel tuning in my earlier years so this is what we are racing. Everything is Opel and I have the Astra and the Vectra.
The Astra was raced by Mike Briggs in South Africa in the 1994 Touring Car Championship and the Vectra is a 1997 test car from Opel. It was developed for 1998 and 1999, as Steffan explains. “Roland Asch raced this car in ’99 in the German Super Touring Car Championship. It is a famous car in Germany because in the last race at the Nurburgring Asch beat Christian Abt with the Audi in the last corner and Abt lost the championship and only 14 days later at the Nurburgring Abt got his title over Uwe Alzen in the Opel. So everybody knows this car.
“This year we are coming to all four races in the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup. We did Silverstone in May and Donington and Brands Hatch in June. Then we will do Oulton Park at the end of August, which is my favourite. I know Oulton Park only from videos but it looks so great. I think they are the four best tracks in the UK and they are very famous.
“Last year I came to the Silverstone Classic but I don’t know the other UK tracks. That was my first experience. At Silverstone in May conditions in qualifying were very tricky and I had spin into the gravel, which was not so funny but I was learning and we had fun. The surface was very slippery. We cannot become World Champion but we can have fun.
“I plan to race in the Touring Car Legends event in Germany in early August at Oschersleben. But the main thing for us this year is the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup. The reception here has been perfect. Everybody is friendly and we got lots of information and help from Dave Jarman, Jonny Westbrook, Andrew Warner and so on. It is really good and we are feeling at home.”
Source: Paul Lawrence.
