Editing Opel Vectra (section)

== Motorsport ==
[[File:Opel-VectraDTM-2005-Frentzen.jpg|thumb|left|Opel Vectra C, built to the DTM rules]]

===Vauxhall Vectra Challenge===

From 1997 to 1999, a one-make series for the Vectra B ran in the UK as the Vauxhall Vectra SRI V6 Challenge.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vectrachallenge.com/id1.html | title=History }}</ref>

A novelty of the series was the Celebrity Car.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Vauxhall Vectra | url=http://www.vectrachallenge.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/VectraChallengeSt200Pic.jpg | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329141410/http://www.vectrachallenge.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/VectraChallengeSt200Pic.jpg | archive-date=2015-03-29}}</ref> In 1997, this was driven by drivers such as [[Tiff Needell]] at [[Brands Hatch]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-a1TSxPaS8s&pp=ygUVVmVjdHJhIGNoYWxsZW5nZSAxOTk3 | title=Vitória de Nonô Figueiredo em Brands Hatch - Temporada 1997 - Vectra Challenge | website=[[YouTube]] | date=29 July 2020 }}</ref> and [[Louise Aitken-Walker]] at [[Knockhill]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=vauxhall vectra challenge | url=https://www.cavalierandchevetteclub.com/vauxhall%20vectra%20challenge.htm | access-date=2025-06-01 | website=www.cavalierandchevetteclub.com}}</ref>

In 1998 and 1999, the series was a support event for the [[British Touring Car Championship]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vectrachallenge.com/id16.html | title=Vectra Challenge Championship Results 1997-99 }}</ref> Many drivers to compete in this series would go on to race or had previously raced in the BTCC.

====The LPG Vectra====

The series was one of the first to experiment with alternative fuels in UK Motorsport with Mark Ticehurst driving a [[Liquefied petroleum gas|Liquified Petroleum Gas]]-powered entry in the 1999 Season.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/5166913.burgess-hill-driver-mark-ticehurst-has-been-handed-a-touring-car-test-drive-by-vauxhall/ | title=BURGESS HILL driver Mark Ticehurst has been handed a touring car test drive by Vauxhall | date=27 September 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://eemsonline.co.uk/altfuels | title=Introduction }}</ref> Ticehurst scored four wins in the car and would have been Champion had he been eligible for points.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.insidemazda.co.uk/2013/05/10/britcar-production-sportscar-series-meet-the-drivers/ | title=Britcar Production Sportscar Series: Meet the Drivers &#124; Inside Mazda }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/7432817.historic-vectra-victory/ | title=Historic Vectra Victory | date=28 April 1999 }}</ref> There were plans for Ticehurst to move up to the BTCC with this car for the 2000 Season but this never materialised.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://1990sbtcc.com/2019/08/06/btcc-super-tourings-paddock-whispers/ | title=BTCC Super Touring's Paddock Whispers | date=6 August 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?p=262166#post262166 | title=The Unusual Vectra - TenTenths Motorsport Forum }}</ref>

===Touring Car Racing===

The Vectra was used in several [[touring car racing]] series.

In the 1990s and the early 2000s the Vectra B [[Super Touring]] took part in the [[British Touring Car Championship]], the [[Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship]], the German [[Super Tourenwagen Cup]], the [[Australian Super Touring Championship]], the [[Japanese Touring Car Championship]], the [[Italian Superturismo Championship]], the [[French Supertouring Championship]] and the [[Swedish Touring Car Championship]].

[[Uwe Alzen]] was third in Super Tourenwagen Cup in 1997 and 1998, and second in 1999; John Henderson was runner up in the [[2000 Australian Super Touring Championship]]; [[John Cleland (racing driver)|John Cleland]] was British Touring Car Champion in [[1995 British Touring Car Championship|1995]] and finished third in 1992 and fourth in 1993 and 1994; [[Yvan Muller]] was sixth in the 1999 British Touring Car Championship and fourth in 2000; and Nicklas Karlsson was third in the 2002 Swedish Touring Car Championship.
[[File:Fabrizio Giovanardi Vauxhall 2007 (crop).JPG|thumb|[[BTCC]] Vauxhall Vectra built to [[Super 2000|S2000]] regulations.]]

====The BTC Touring Vectra====

A prototype Vectra C was built to the [[BTC Touring]] specifications in 2003 by [[Triple Eight Race Engineering (United Kingdom)|Triple Eight Race Engineering]], with the view to using it in the [[2004 British Touring Car Championship|2004 BTCC]], but it was never raced, despite being shown publicly at the 2004 [[Birmingham Motor Show]] as the 'Vectra Diesel Concept'.<ref>Autosport magazine feature 25 January 2007 'Tin-Tops That Never Raced'</ref> The car got as far as a test at [[Albacete]] but proved less competitive than the Astra Coupe.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.touringcarregister.com/register/220/ | title=BTCT : Vauxhall Vectra Unknown }}</ref> The car appeared at the Autosport International Show in January 2007, disguised as the Super 2000 version that would make its BTCC debut that year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.carenthusiast.com/news/article/1772/Vauxhall/2007-Vauxhall-Vectra+BTCC/BTCC+Vectra+ready+to+race.html | title=VX Racing's new car for BTCC ready to go &#124; News &#124; Vauxhall &#124; by Car Enthusiast }}</ref>

====The Super 2000 Vectra====

After being replaced by the Astra H in the British Touring Car Championship, the Vectra C was introduced in 2007. [[Fabrizio Giovanardi]] was champion in 2007 and 2008. [[VX Racing]] competed in the season of 2009, with three Vectras, driven by Giovanardi, [[Matt Neal]] and [[Andrew Jordan (racing driver)|Andrew Jordan]].

====Silhouette Racing====

The Vectra has been used as a [[silhouette racing car]]: in the [[Stock Car Brasil]] in 2000 to 2003 (it was the champion for four seasons) and 2009, in the Argentine [[Top Race V6]] since 2005 ([[Guillermo Ortelli]] was 2005 champion), and in the [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters]] in 2004 and 2005, with little success.

====The Vectra Safety Car====

In 1994, a Vectra A was the official [[Formula 1]] [[Safety Car|safety car]] during the [[1994 San Marino Grand Prix]] driven by [[Max Angelelli]] at the time and was in front of [[Ayrton Senna]] for 5 laps before he [[Death of Ayrton Senna|crashed into Tamburello on lap 7]]. 
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