A Lifelong Dream
"If you look at what our eight candidates have achieved in such a short period of time, there can be no better endorsement for the OPC Race Camp concept. Our 24-hour race experiences also confirmed this. Despite constantly changing weather conditions, our guys were able to clock the fifth or sixth-fastest laps overall. The kind of accident or technical problem we had is just a part of motor racing...."
-OPC Race Camp Project Leader Manuel Reuter
Twelve months ago, the eight OPC Race Camp finalists were simply engineers, students, sales representatives or dentists. Following their baptism of fire in this year’s 24-hour Nürburgring Race, they are now also true racing drivers. They can look back on an exciting year of castings, racing driver trainings and increasingly challenging motorsport races.
The OPC Race Camp team members from Austria are Stefan Leitner, a vehicle technology student from the Technical University of Graz, and Martin Karlhofer from Voitsberg, who has just successfully completed his studies in mechanical engineering and machining technology at the HTL Bulme engineering school. The Swiss member rounds off the OPC Race Camp Team: Kurt Wenger from Binningen, a sales representative for a Dutch high-tech bicycle manufacturer.
The Germans include Alex Plenagl, a professional alpine skier and member of the Bavarian State team from Munich/Bavaria, economics student Benjamin Scharf from Netphen/North Rhine-Westphalia, Christian Bach, automotive development engineer from Rechtenbach/Bavaria, Dr. Peter Pangert, a dentist from Rudolstadt/Thuringia and Christian Bollrath from Loehne/ North Rhine-Westphalia, who currently works in Atlanta, Georgia as managing director of a lighting systems manufacturer.
Ever wondered what inspires a race car driver? Check out this interview with OPC Race Camp's Christian Bollrath.
Germany, 2008
Video Courtesy of General Motors Corporation
The idea of the OPC Race Camp was born because the dream of being a racing driver often ends due to lack of sponsorship and a need for high investments. Its launch in the spring of 2007 broke new ground for Opel in the world of motorsport. The principle behind the event: instead of engaging experienced and well-known racing drivers in the 24-hour Nürburgring race, offer ambitious drivers with no motorsport experience the opportunity to discover their motor racing talents through a rigorous talent scouting process and numerous qualification stages. Those who have the necessary abilities then receive professional instruction to hone their skills and prepare them for competitive motor racing. Opel provides the professional training, cars and necessary organizational support for the Race Camp.
All expectations for the OPC Race Camp were exceeded when over 18,500 people applied to join. By using a random generator, 500 candidates were invited to come to the Opel Test Center in Dudenhofen. This number was then reduced to just eight through the four talent stages: several racing training exercises, racing driver license tests, competitive racing in the Nürburgring Circuit Racing Challenge and Nürburgring Endurance Championship, as well as fitness tests and a winter training camp. Following a year’s intensive training by Manuel Reuter and Jockel Winkelhock – both former Le Mans and 24-hour Nürburgring race winners – the grand finale of the first OPC Race Camp took place. The best eight, five Germans, two Austrians and one Swiss, proved their racing skills and qualified for the ultimate challenge: participation in the legendary 24-hour Nürburgring endurance race.
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