WORDS BY STEPHEN BRUNSDON | IMAGES BY MÜCKE MOTORSPORT
Keke Rosberg’s iconic Opel Calibra V6 4x4, in which he contested his final DTM race, will make a return to the track this weekend at the Lausitzring for the first time in 27 years as part of the DTM Classic Cup.
The 1982 Formula One world champion drove in the Germany-based touring car championship across four seasons in the early 1990s, amassing one victory and a further nine podiums during this time.
Rosberg raced the Calibra with Joest Racing in 1993 and 1994 before taking the car in-house with his own team for 1995.
The car has a short, but illustrious history in the Germany-based touring car championship, having come onto the scene in the latter stages of the 1993 season. Having made its debut at the Hockenheim season finale, the coupé proved a hit with the fans as well as the drivers, despite mechanical issues which slowed its performance initially.
Fitted with a 2.5 litre V6 engine, with an output of over 500 hp and revving to 12,000rpm, the Calibra benefitted from the might of Williams Engineering for its hydraulics and Cosworth as engine suppliers.
Its full season debut came the following season with Rosberg at the helm alongside DTM legend Klaus Ludwig.
Rosberg claimed a solitary podium en route to a lowly 15th in the final standings, while Ludwig took a clean sweep of wins at the final round at Hockenheim that year.
The Calibra therefore sparked the way for Opel to make its name on the DTM stage, with the brand staying in the championship until the end of the 2005 season having taken two podiums courtesy of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
It will be driven by another former DTM driver Stefan Mücke will drive the car, which is run by Mücke Motorsport Classic, over the weekend – which is the opening round of the DTM Classic Cup – alongside Ronny Scheer.
Now in the hands of Mücke Motorsport Classic, a prep firm run by Mücke Motorsport team founder Peter Mücke, the Calibra is among some fairly prestigious company.
Mücke Motorsport Classic boasts some of the world’s most spectacular cars, including an ex-Emanuele Pirro Audi A4 which was raced in the hugely popular Supertourenwagen Championship and subsequently by Mattias Ekström in his 1999 Swedish Touring Car Championship title winning season.
Also in the collection is an ex-Anthony Reid BTCC Ford Mondeo, a Christian Danner Alfa Romeo DTM machine as well as an ex-BTCC Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth used in the 1990 BTCC.
That Sierra Cosworth will also be in action this weekend, with Mücke and Scheer swapping cars between races.
“In race one, I will drive the Ford and Ronny the Opel, and the other way round in the second race,” said Mücke, who drove in 61 DTM races between 2022 and 2006.
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