Opel enjoys successful Nordschleife outing

Although the Team Holzer-run car had to be modified slightly to cope with the rigours of the 14-mile tree-lined circuit, Strycek declared himself pleased with the outing in the German Langstreckenmeisterschaft series.

"We have shown that a state-of-the-art DTM-car works on the Nordschleife," he said. "You can't compare the Nordschleife to any other race track. There are so many bumps and at some places, you are sometimes in the air with all four wheels."

Strycek qualified on pole with a lap of 8m37.515s - seven seconds inside the old DTM qualifying record of Johnny Cecotto in 1992. He led the race for four laps, but then withdrew from the race as scheduled.

"Unfortunately, we need the car next week, therefore I have to be sensible and stop," he said. "But I would rather have continued."

The successful test could pave the way for Opel to contest next year's Nurburgring 24 Hours with the car.