Roland Asch

Born : October 12 1950

Biography Roland Asch

Roland Asch was born October 12 1950 in Altingen, part of Ammerbuch near Tübingen (Germany), where his father started a Ford dealership in the mid 1950s. The business flourished and soon a petrol station was the next step. In the early 1980s, Roland Ash took over the business of his father Karl.  One shouldn’t be wondered that a young man, growing up with cars and fuel, had some race genes in him.

In 1969, Ash’s motorsport ambitions began to germinate when Helmut Bross, a racer from Herrenberg, allowed Roland Ash to drive his Porsche 906 from a trailer. To the great surprise of Bross, Roland Ash immediately went for a ride on the country roads. 4 years later, Roland Asch set his first steps in real motorsport with a Ford Capri in an invitational race of the Porsche Club Schwaben at the Hockenheimring. To his own great surprise, Asch went home with a victory in his pocket. After slalom driving, Asch moved on to hill climbs to become German Champion in 1981 with a Ford Escort RS 2000. 

After racing on circuits in the lower Trophy division of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, Ash made his Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) debut 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.

Roland Asch and Porsche

Next to racing in the DTM,  Roland Asch raced in the Porsche Turbo 944 Cup too. Because Ash was still financing this himself, he drove with ‘Wanted Sponsors’ stickers on his car. Good results in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup resulted in a contract first with Max-Moritz Racing, and later with Strähle Motorsport.  Roland Asch crowned himself champion in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup for 3 consecutive years (1987,1988,1989). In 1990, the series was renamed the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. Olaf Manthey took the championship title. But in 1991, Roland Asch won the championship again

However, Asch had become a Mercedes works driver in 1988 to participate in the DTM championship. And Mercedes disliked the success of Roland Asch in the Porsche Cup. On many occasions, both the DTM races and Porsche Carrera Cup races were on the same days on the same track. One time, Mercedes disallowed Ash to take the start in the Porsche race. However, he disobeyed and won the race. In 1994, the ways of Mercedes and Roland Asch separated. 

In his 50s, Asch returned to the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, where he raced until 2003, bar a one-off race during the 2004 season. Currently, he is supporting his son Sebastian Asch, who followed his father’s footsteps and started racing too

Pictures courtesy unknown