Opel junior Timo Schulz (23, Siersburg) and his co-driver Michael Wenzel (46, Mehlingen) have made a perfect debut for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team. In their Corsa Rally4, the duo from the Saarland-Palatinate celebrated their first class win at the Rally Székesfehérvár in Hungary, which was intended as a test event for gravel rookie Schulz. After ten treacherous gravel special stages, the Opel crew was the best crew of a two-wheel-drive vehicle, 27.1 seconds ahead of the Peugeot 208 Rally4 of locals Herczig/Varga, thus securing victory in the RC4 category, which was strongly populated with 15 vehicles.

"First start in the Corsa Rally4, first rally with a new team and new co-driver, my first gravel rally ever, and then a victory straight away - it couldn't have gone any better," said a delighted Schulz, who had moved up to the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team after winning the title in the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup. "Of course we know that the really big calibers are still waiting for us, but this was perfect preparation for the first three gravel events of the European Junior Championship. The external conditions at the Rally Székesfehérvár were not easy, but we were able to master them, continuously improve and try out some things. The Corsa Rally4 ran like clockwork, we feel very comfortable in the team. This great result, which I didn't expect at all, gives us hope for the upcoming tasks in the JERC."

The opening round of the Junior European Rally Championship will take place from May 19-21 at the Rally Poland.