In 1954, a young Swiss competitor hitchhiked all the way to Britain in order to participate in the European Championships at Woodside near Luton. His ED and Supertigre cars were less than successful, which led him to contemplate giving up racing until his mother asked him what he needed to be competitive, 'an Oliver Tiger' was the reply. A relative in Britain was able to source one of these as a birthday gift to him and with Philip Rochat as a mentor Roland became very competitive, building his own cars, the Sabre, Stiletto and the all conquering 'Killer'. For this car he abandoned the twinshaft Oliver following the trend to spur driven aero engines that could run much larger tyres.

For three years Roland was almost unbeatable in 1.5cc and 2.5cc winning the European Championships in 1956 at Vasteras, 1957 at Dortmund, and 1958 at Basel. In 1958 he also did the 1.5cc, 2.5cc World Championship double at Landikon, Zurich. As was possible at that time he also won three silver and 2 bronze medals at these meetings.