Opel Vectra makes debut

Opel's motorsport manager Volker Strycek drove the new car for the first time on Monday, and completed 55 laps of the circuit. Audi and Mercedes had already tested its new A4 and C-Class cars respectively.

"A roll-out of a new race car is always an exciting affair," said Strycek. "Although the data acquired in such a test are only of limited use, you get at least a feel of the car, which in this case is very good. The development and technical department of the Opel Performance Centre really have done a tremendous job in the past few weeks."

Opel's test driver Marcel Tiemann also drove the car during its roll-out at Colmar. An extensive test programme with the Opel Vectra GTS V8 will be carried out in the next few weeks, when race team drivers Peter Dumbreck, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Laurent Aiello, Marcel Fassler, Timo Scheider and Manuel Reuter will also be on hand.