Volker Strycek

Volker Strycek (born 13 October 1957 in Essen) is a German racecar driver and automobile manager.

In 1984 he became the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft champion, driving a BMW 635 CSi, without winning a race. He did not win a DTM^[1] race either when driving for Opel from 1989 to 1996.

After the original DTM faltered, he became a manager for Opel, leading the Opel Performance Center (OPC). He entered a DTM-Calibra on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 1999, and in 2002 raced new DTM-Opel Astra there. Setting fast lap times, he proved that these advanced cars are suitable for the long and bumpy Nordschleife. As a result, several factory teams entered the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2003, and Strycek won together with three of his employees. In 2004, they set the fastest lap. Strycek keeps on racing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with various cars of Opel resp. General Motors, e.g. a Corvette.

Strycek, who is married and has two children, is since 2006 Professor at Technische Universität Berlin^[2] and since 2007 Automobilclub von Deutschland Sportpräsident.^[3]