An international field of 15 Corsa Rally Electric cars at the start, seven attractive races in four countries, an even more efficient charging infrastructure – the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” is well positioned for its fifth season. This coming weekend (April 25/26), the electric cars will kick off the new season at the ADAC Rallye Sulingen, which counts for the German Rally Championship (DRM).
Interest in the world's first and so far only electric rally cup remains unabated. Including the upcoming season opener in Sulingen, the Cup has attracted a total of 63 drivers from 13 countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Spain, France, England, and Ireland) since 2021, including 12 female drivers.
Several major motorsport associations use the platform for comprehensive talent development. The Belgian RACB (with young Thyrsa Eertmans) and the Dutch KNAF (with Cup veteran Fabian Kamermans) are continuing their junior programs. With the support of the ÖAMTC, two promising talents from Austria, Marcel Neulinger and Maximilian Lichtenegger, are joining the Cup family. Belgium is represented by the aforementioned Thyrsa Eertmans and Tom Heindrichs. The brother of world rally champion Thierry Neuville made a spectacular debut in the Corsa Rally Electric with his victory in last year's Cup final as part of the Central European Rally. Returning and potential title contenders are Spain's Alex Español and France's Anthony Rott.
The German colors are well represented in the fifth year of the Cup: Christian Lemke, Johannes Wittenbeck, Kilian Nierenz, Simon Steitz, and Arwed Jungnickel have already competed in the Corsa Rally Electric. Also at the start in Sulingen is the winner of the 2024 ADAC Clubsport Rally Sprint Cup, Sebastian Lange. And with Irish driver Aoife Raftery, who has already gained international experience in the Junior European Championship and was recently promoted into the Dirtfish Ladies development program, another fast woman will be competing in the Corsa Rally Electric in Sulingen.
New, more efficient charging infrastructure
This season will see the introduction of a new charging infrastructure that is more efficient and cost-effective than the previous one. The Corsa Rally Electric cars will continue to draw their green electricity from the public grid. However, the new system from the specialists at SCHALL-E in Augsburg no longer requires a medium-voltage connection or a complex transformer. Instead, each rally car has its own 160-kilowatt-hour battery storage unit, which charges the electric racers to their maximum charging capacity of 100 kilowatts. The storage units are in turn fed from the public low-voltage grid. The Corsa Rally Electric's 50 kWh batteries can be fully charged in less than 25 minutes. This takes place during a normal rally service, which can still be carried out in parallel with charging. So nothing changes for the teams.
“Opel and ADAC have proven the coherence of their joint electric rally concept,” says Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott. ”The Corsa Rally Electric cars are fast and reliable and offer plenty of driving fun, as the large number of drivers from all over Europe will be happy to confirm. Our electric charging infrastructure has proven itself under the tough conditions of rallying. And with Laurent Pellier, Timo Schulz, Calle Carlberg, and Luca Pröglhöf, four Cup champions have made it into the Junior European Championship with us. Our talent pyramid therefore continues to be a major incentive for young participants. In summary, it can be emphasized time and again: electric rallying works. Opel proves it.”
“Now in its fifth year, the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup offers young talents the perfect stage and shows how well electric motorsport works in promoting young talent. The Cup has established itself as an excellent springboard to higher classes as part of the successful promotion of young talent. The large number of participants from abroad shows that the innovative concept of the series is also attracting a lot of interest internationally,” says ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss.
The ADAC Rallye Sulingen will start on Friday evening at 6:21 p.m. with three special stages. On Saturday, between 11:07 a.m. and around 7:30 p.m., four more relatively long stages of 17.5 and 24.25 kilometers are on the program. In total, the participants will have to complete 108 kilometers of special stages in their electric racers. Rally fans who are not there in person can follow the exciting action via live timing at www.opel-motorsport.com and www.adac.de/motorsport. The news channel n-tv will summarize the events at the ADAC Rallye Sulingen on Sunday (April 27) at 11:15 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. in the magazine “PS – DRM: Die Deutsche Rallye-Meisterschaft”.
Calendar ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” 2025
25./26.04. ADAC Rallye Sulingen (D)
23./24.05. ELE Rally, Eindhoven (NL)
14./15.06. Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, Gérardmer (F)
15./16.08. ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, St. Wendel (D)
05./06.09. Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine (F)
26./27.09. ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg, Lübbecke (D)
16.-19.10. Central European Rally, Passau (WRC, D/A/CZ)
Entry List ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup „powered by GSe”
No. Driver/Co-Driver
1 Anthony Rott / Adrien Rott (F)
2 Alex Español / Borja Odriozola (E)
3 Christian Lemke / Jan-Eric Bemmann (D)
4 Tom Heindrichs / Jonas Schmitz (B)
5 Fabian Kamermans / Stefan Müller (NL)
6 Johannes Wittenbeck / Maximilian Kugler (D)
7 Marcel Neulinger / Silvano Winkler (A)
8 Kilian Nierenz / Milena Raithel (D)
9 Arwed Jungnickel / Aaron Jungnickel (D)
10 Simon Steitz / Jochen Rheinwalt (D)
11 Nico Neulinger / Jakob Ruhsam (A)
12 Thyrsa Eertmans / Justine Demeestere (B)
13 Maximilian Lichtenegger / Pascal Raabe (D)
14 Aoife Raftery / Hannah McKillop (IRL)
15 Sebastian Lange / Paul Gehbauer (D)
