A new motorsports fan meets an experienced driver: Marc Schmidt and Jasmin Preisig.
It was a scientific experiment of sorts: Take an automobile engineer with no knowledge of motorsports, pack him into a racecar that he played an important part in building (albeit indirectly), put a former Le Mans winner behind the wheel, and just wait and see what happens. In the case of Marc Schmidt and the Opel Astra TCR, the reaction was not entirely unexpected, yet very intense. A spark was struck. And what a spark it was.
STEP 1: INSPIRE THE TECHNICIAN
At first, the Astra Chief Engineer’s interest was naturally of a purely technical nature, with emotions hardly entering into it. It was more or less a question of: “Let’s have a look at what the racers have done with my baby to turn her into a touring car.” The first look around already had surprises in store for Schmidt: “That’s our rear axle!” And sure enough, the Opel Astra TCR uses the same Watt’s linkage on the rear axle as its civilian brother; only the pivot points are different. The reasoning behind this is simple and has to do with Opel Motorsport’s customer sport philosophy: Adopt everything that works well without tinkering with it too much. This is good not only for the nerves, but also for the budget. And the first test drives with the Astra TCR have clearly shown that the series-based rear axle of the Astra K does exactly what it should in the racecar, too. So why mess with success?
The Chief Engineer of the Astra K in full Opel racing regalia in the passenger seat of the Astra TCR. At the wheel: Jockel Winkelhock.
STEP 2: SIT HIM IN THE PASSENGER SEAT
To get the technician really emotional, it takes more than just an in-depth technical inspection. And so Chief Engineer Schmidt soon found himself decked out in full Opel racing regalia in the passenger seat of the Astra TCR. At the wheel was Joachim “Smokin’ Jo” Winkelhock.
STEP 3: GET HIM EMOTIONAL
When the 330-horsepower racecar had returned to the pit lane, the broad grin on Marc Schmidt’s face hardly fit through the passenger door. “Unreal!” enthused the 48-year-old Hamburg native. “That had almost nothing to do with what you see on TV. When you watch racing you usually ask yourself: Is this even a sport? But when you’re sitting in there yourself, forget about it. The centrifugal forces alone reach levels that normal human beings never encounter.”
The spiritual father of the Astra K was especially pleased by the fact that “The series-based regulations of the TCR do not allow many changes. The character of the new Astra shines through thanks to this. I didn’t expect it. I’m very pleased, and I’ll admit it makes me feel a little proud. After all, series development is a whole different world, where our primary focus is not on laying the foundations for racing standards. So it’s that much better when the foundations are simply more or less there.”
Climbing in is a minor challenge in itself.
Press briefing in the lounge on the pit roof: Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott delivers a briefing on Rüsselsheim motorsports philosophy, and Astra Chief Engineer Marc Schmidt presents an overview of the development highlights of the ‘Car of the Year.’
Talking shop.
But that really comes as no surprise, given that basic characteristics such as dynamics and stable handling are just as highly sought after in series production as in motorsports. “We tried to combine efficiency, connectivity, and emotional design through parameters such as low weight, great aerodynamics, and optimum use of space,” says Schmidt. “And this is obviously a sound basis for building a car that is also capable of operating in a new environment. In any case, it doesn’t contrast with what we’ve done during series development, although we didn’t focus on it directly. And I think our Astra racecar looks just terrific. This is really the icing on the cake!”