1998 Super Tourenwagen Cup season

1998 STW season
Previous:	1997	Next:	1999

The 1998 ADAC Deutsche Super Touren Wagen-Cup was the 5th season of the Super Tourenwagen Cup (STW).

Season summary

After an open start to the season with four different winners in the first four races, BMW driver Johnny Cecotto and reigning champion and Peugeot driver Laurent Aiello soon emerged as the two championship contenders. Cecotto built up a sizeable lead during the season, but a late four-race winning streak ahead of the final weekend helped Aiello close the gap. After finishing third in the sprint race at the final event, one place ahead of Cecotto, Aiello passed Cecotto in the championship and led his Venezuelan rival by a single point before the deciding feature race. In that race, Cecotto would go on to finish fourth, two places ahead of Aiello, allowing him to claim the title.

Teams and drivers

No.	Driver	Team	Car	Notes
1	Laurent Aiello	Peugeot Esso	Peugeot 406
2	Jörg van Ommen	Peugeot Esso	Peugeot 406
3	Alexander Burgstaller	Opel Paulaner Team Holzer	Opel Vectra
4	Uwe Alzen	Opel Team Holzer	Opel Vectra
5	Emanuele Pirro	Abt Sportsline Team Audi	Audi A4
6	Eric Hélary	Opel TNT Team SMS	Opel Vectra
7	Manuel Reuter	Opel Team SMS	Opel Vectra
8	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	BMW 320i
9	Johnny Cecotto	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	BMW 320i
10	Stefano Modena	Euroteam S.R.L.	Alfa Romeo 156
11	Gabriele Tarquini	JAS Team Honda Sport	Honda Accord
12	Tom Kristensen	JAS Team Honda Sport	Honda Accord
14	Peter Mamerow	Mamerow Racing Team	BMW 320i
15	Oliver Mayer	Oliver Mayer Motorsport	Audi A4 Quattro	Rounds 1-4, 6-7, 10
16	Marco Bromberger	Auto Dienst Bemani Team	Opel Vectra	Rounds 1-5, 7-10
17	Klaus Niedzwiedz	Auto Dienst Bemani Team	Opel Vectra
18	Christian Abt	Abt Sportsline Team Audi	Audi A4
19	Franz Engstler	Irmscher Motorsport	Opel Vectra
20	Nicola Larini	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 156	Round 4
21	Michael Bartels	Peugeot Esso	Peugeot 406	Rounds 7-10
22	Michael Krumm	Nissan Primera Racing	Nissan Primera
23	Roland Asch	Nissan Primera Racing	Nissan Primera
25	Leopold Prinz von Bayern	Team Isert	BMW 320i
26	Christian Menzel	Team Isert	BMW 320i
30	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 156	Round 4
45	Frank Biela	Abt Sportsline Team Audi	Audi A4

Race calendar and winners

Round	Race	Circuit	Date	Event	Winning driver	Winning team
1	Int. ADAC-Preis Hockenheim	Hockenheimring	19 April	Sprint Race	Uwe Alzen Manuel Reuter	Opel Team Holzer Opel Team SMS
2	60. Int. ADAC Eifelrennen	Nürburgring	10 May	Sprint Race	Roland Asch Johnny Cecotto	Nissan Primera Racing BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer
3	Sachsenring	Sachsenring	24 May	Sprint Race	Johnny Cecotto Johnny Cecotto	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer
4	200 Meilen von Nürnberg	Norisring	6 July	Sprint Race	Jörg van Ommen Laurent Aiello	Peugeot Esso Peugeot Esso
5	ADAC-Regio-Preis Lahr	Regio-Ring	19 July	Sprint Race	Uwe Alzen Gabriele Tarquini	Opel Team Holzer JAS Team Honda Sport
6	35. Int. ADAC - Flugplatzrennen	Wunstorf	2 August	Sprint Race	Laurent Aiello Manuel Reuter	Peugeot Esso Opel Team SMS
7	Int. ADAC Preis von Zweibrücken	Zweibrücken	16 August	Sprint Race	Johnny Cecotto Johnny Cecotto	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer
8	Int. ADAC Alpentrophäe	Salzburgring	30 August	Sprint Race	Laurent Aiello Laurent Aiello	Peugeot Esso Peugeot Esso
9	Int. ADAC-Preis der Tourenwagen von Sachsen-Anhalt	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben	13 September	Sprint Race	Laurent Aiello Laurent Aiello	Peugeot Esso Peugeot Esso
10	25. ADAC Bilstein Supersprint	Nürburgring	4 October	Sprint Race	Manuel Reuter Eric Hélary	Opel Team SMS Opel TNT Team SMS

Championship results

Pos Driver HOC NÜR SAC NOR REG WUN ZWE SAL OSC NÜR Pts 1 Johnny Cecotto 8 8 3 1 1 1 8 4 4 2 9 10 1 1 12 10 3 2 4 4 595 2 Laurent Aiello 4 2 4 3 3 5 6 1 12 10 1 Ret 3 5 1 1 1 1 3 6 592 3 Uwe Alzen 1 17 6 5 4 Ret 2 3 1 4 5 2 15 6 2 13 5 5 5 2 482 4 Eric Hélary Ret 9 2 2 19 7 7 2 2 3 7 4 8 4 Ret DNS 9 6 2 1 473 5 Manuel Reuter 2 1 5 11 16 6 Ret 10 20 6 2 1 5 20 3 15 8 Ret 1 3 423 6 Joachim Winkelhock 3 3 7 7 9 2 10 5 Ret Ret 10 11 2 2 13 16 4 3 Ret 10 405 7 Gabriele Tarquini 7 11 8 Ret 5 4 5 7 3 1 Ret DNS 4 22 5 4 16 12 21 9 335 8 Roland Asch 15 10 1 4 Ret 3 3 6 6 7 Ret DNS 6 3 22 11 10 13 Ret 21 327 9 Michael Krumm 11 4 12 21 6 Ret Ret 12 7 Ret 6 6 7 12 9 6 2 4 12 8 312 10 Jörg van Ommen Ret DNS 9 6 11 9 1 DNS Ret 11 4 3 Ret 7 6 5 14 11 11 13 311 11 Tom Kristensen 9 12 Ret DNS 7 Ret 14 8 8 16 3 5 Ret 9 8 7 13 10 7 5 293 12 Christian Abt 6 5 11 8 8 8 4 9 9 Ret 15 8 Ret 14 4 Ret 6 Ret 13 18 267 13 Christian Menzel 5 Ret 10 9 2 DSQ 15 18 11 9 11 12 12 13 15 12 12 7 14 15 254 14 Frank Biela 13 Ret 14 12 Ret 11 20 Ret 10 5 8 Ret 13 11 14 9 11 8 6 11 242 15 Alexander Burgstaller 10 16 13 14 Ret Ret 17 Ret 5 15 16 7 9 15 11 8 17 14 8 7 227 16 Emanuele Pirro 16 7 Ret 13 17 Ret 19 19 13 8 Ret Ret 14 Ret 7 2 7 Ret 10 12 205 17 Klaus Niedzwiedz 17 14 16 15 18 15 11 Ret 15 12 13 13 16 16 18 14 21 16 15 Ret 156 18 Stefano Modena 18 18 15 12 10 17 Ret DNS 14 Ret Ret 9 10 10 16 Ret 18 15 22 17 146 19 Michael Bartels 11 8 10 3 15 9 9 14 143 20 Peter Mamerow Ret DNS 17 14 16 10 9 13 16 17 14 14 19 17 20 Ret 20 17 16 Ret 130 21 Franz Engstler 14 19 18 18 10 14 16 15 17 14 12 15 20 Ret 21 DNS 24 19 18 16 119 22 Marco Bromberger 19 15 19 17 15 13 21 17 19 13 18 18 19 17 22 20 20 19 98 23 Leopold Prinz von Bayern 20 6 20 20 20 16 Ret 16 18 Ret Ret 16 17 21 17 Ret 19 18 17 Ret 98 24 Oliver Mayer 12 13 21 19 13 12 18 Ret 17 17 19 21 23 21 19 20 78 25 Fabrizio Giovanardi 13 11 28 26 Nicola Larini 12 14 23 Pos Driver HOC NÜR SAC NOR REG WUN ZWE SAL OSC NÜR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX)