The title battle in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” picked up speed again at the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rally. With his second win of the season, Belgian driver Tom Heindrichs moved to within eight points of current championship leader Alex “Sito” Español. The Spaniard did not cope perfectly with the asphalt hunt around St. Wendel and finished in fourth place, his worst result of the season. German driver Kilian Nierenz and Dutchman Fabian Kamermans were once again strong, taking the other podium places in the fourth race of the season.
In a rally where hardly any team got through without tire damage due to the treacherous cuts and demanding gravel passages, Tom Heindrichs and co-driver Jonas Schmitz took the lead right from the start. Unlike last time at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, however, the brother of world rally champion Thierry Neuville did not have a commanding run, but had to fight hard for victory. “We were able to build up a small lead yesterday, which helped us a lot today,” summarized Heindrichs. "We focused primarily on the Spaniards and tried not to risk any punctures or other damage to the car. That worked well. We are very happy about the victory and that we were able to close the gap to the top of the standings. Of course, we would have liked to have had more cars between us and Sito, but overall we are on the right track."
Kilian Nierenz and his co-driver Milena Raithel once again delivered a flawless performance. With a consistently fast drive and three stage wins, the Bavarians celebrated their third podium finish in the fourth race of the season and their best result in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup with second place. “It couldn't have gone much better. Our goal was to keep getting closer and closer over the course of the season and increase the pressure at the front. We're over the moon that things are going so well,” said Nierenz, who is third in the standings, 14 points behind the leader.
Fabian Kamermans and Stefan Müller finished third, securing their third podium finish overall and second of the season, and were understandably delighted: “It was a tough rally. We lost a bit of speed today in particular. So it's all the better that we still managed to finish on the podium,” said Kamermans. In the end, it was a really close call for the Dutch duo. With the fastest times in the last two stages, including the “Power Stage” (SS12), Alex Español and co-driver Borja Odriozola closed in on them again and ultimately missed the podium by just 0.8 seconds. “We got off to a bad start in the rally. We couldn't find any rhythm yesterday,” admitted the championship leader. “Today, despite a puncture in the morning, we got into our stride better and were able to set two fastest times at the end – unfortunately too late. Missing the podium by such a narrow margin is very frustrating.” In sixth place behind the experienced Christian Lemke/Pascal Raabe, the Saxon brothers Arwed and Aaron Jungnickel achieved their best result to date in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup.
Anthony and Adrien Rott were once again very unlucky. The French duo had secured second place overall in the Cup classification with their second stage win in SS9 when a minor slip-up in the following stage meant the end of the rally for the brothers from Alsace. Austrian Marcel Neulinger also showed a strong upward trend, getting off to a very good start and lying in third place when a drive shaft on the Corsa Rally Electric broke following a less than perfect landing after a long jump in SS7. Neulinger and co-driver Jakob Ruhsam returned to the race after repairs, but it wasn’t possible to finish higher than 13th.
The three guest starters also delivered good performances. Irish driver Aoife Raftery and co-driver Hannah McKillop finished eighth after a controlled drive and made their mark with sixth place in the final Power Stage. “Our goal was to improve steadily throughout the rally and gain more experience,” commented Raftery. “The rally was a lot of fun, the stages were great, and we got better and better. Thanks to Opel Motorsport, Opel Ireland, and Schmack Motorsport for making this possible.” Right behind them, Sebastian Lange and Paul Gehbauer finished their second outing in the ADAC Opel Electric Rallye Cup, just like the two ladies from the British Island. German veteran Nico Leschhorn, who finished eleventh alongside co-driver Jara Hain, admitted that he had struggled with the switch to the Corsa Rally Electric. "After a year and a half away from rallying, it was initially a matter of shaking off the rust and completely changing my driving style. I found it a bit difficult, but I still had a lot of fun," summarized the 39-year-old from Hesse.
German debut for the Mokka GSE Rally
The new Opel Mokka GSE Rally celebrated its German premiere at the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rally. As part of the development program for the 280 hp electric racer, Opel racing legend Volker Strycek and co-driver Conny Nemenich completed selected special stages and gave German rally fans a taste of what to expect next year when the first vehicle developed in accordance with FIA eRally5 regulations will replace the current Corsa Rally Electric.
The teams of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” will travel to France on the first weekend of September for the fifth showdown of the season. The Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine is an absolute highlight in the calendar of the world's first electric rally one-make cup.
Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” after 4 of 7 rounds:
1. Español 115 points. 2. Heindrichs 107. 3. Nierenz 101. 4. Lemke 86. 5. Kamermans 79. 6. Wittenbeck 47. 7. Neulinger 46. 8. Jungnickel 42. 9. Eertmans 32. 10. Steitz 31. 11. Raftery 20. 12. Rott 19.
