Opel Astra - Motorsport

Motorsport

The Astra has been used in auto racing around the globe, in particular in touring car racing. Its highest success were achieved in the British Touring Car Championship (see BTC-T Vauxhall Astra Coupe). The Astra Coupe replaced the Vectra in the BTCC after the regulations changed in 2001 and immediately became a successful car in British Touring Car Championship taking both 1st and 2nd in the drivers championship in 2001 with Jason Plato, 2002 with James Thompson, 2003 with Yvan Muller & 2004 with James Thompson. The Astra Coupe was able to also take the Teams and Manufacturers Championships at the same time between 2001 and 2004. During its 4 years in the hands of the works VXRacing team it was almost invincible taking 61 wins. After 2004, it was decided that Vauxhall would retire the Astra Coupe and move on to the Mark 5 Astra Sport Hatch for the next two years. Due to the reliability and speed of the Astra Coupe, they were used by many independent teams such as GA Motorsport, Collards Motorsport, Thurlby Motors and Arkas Racing for the next few years with one car entered this year by Martin Johnson. The newer cars struggled to match the coupe's pace and were beaten by the Hondas and SEATs on many occasions. Yvan Muller was runner-up and Colin Turkington sixth in 2005. In 2006 Yvan Muller moved to the World Touring Car Championship while Colin Turkington moved back to MG. They were replaced by Fabrizio Giovanardi who finished fifth overall and gave Vauxhall its 100th BTCC win, Gavin Smith seventh and Tom Chilton eighth. For 2007, VX Racing dropped the Astra in favour of the Vectra C and reduced to two cars. Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton drove for the team in 2007.

In 2002, 2003 and 2006, three different drivers were European Rallycross Champions in the Division 2 driving Astras. The 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 runner-ups also raced in that car. Christian Ledesma was 2004 TC 2000 champion with an Astra and Matías Rossi took that title in 2006 and 2007.

The Astra has been used in the shape of silhouette racing cars as well. It was featured in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2000 to 2003 (Manuel Reuter was runner-up in 2000) and the Stock Car Brasil from 2004 to 2008 (Giuliano Losacco won the tournament in 2004 and 2005). In 2009, the Astra G body was replaced Stock Car Brasil by a Vectra, which is in fact the same as the Astra H.