The ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team is traveling to the Barum Czech Rally Zlín this weekend highly motivated and with a lot of momentum behind. With three wins and four podium finishes in the first four rounds of the Junior European Rally Championship (JERC) this season, Swedish Opel junior Calle Carlberg (24) is the man of the moment among Europe's best rally talents in his Corsa Rally4. Which means that the chances of the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team winning its sixth Junior European Championship title are slowly but surely becoming more realistic.
The starting position for the team led by Austrian rally legend Manfred Stohl is excellent: only three drivers still have a mathematical chance of winning the JERC title. With a 37-point lead and two JERC rallies remaining, Carlberg could seal the deal early in Zlín. The prerequisite is that the Opel driver does not lose more than seven points to Britain's Ioan Lloyd in a Peugeot and no more than 20 to Estonia's Jaspar Vaher in a Lancia. Second place would therefore guarantee the title. Alternatively, Carlberg needs a total of 23 points from the remaining JERC rallies in the Czech Republic and Croatia to secure the Junior European Championship title. An eighth and a seventh place would therefore be enough for the Scandinavian.
But Carlberg is adamant: "I've always been better at putting my foot down than doing math. There's no place for a calculator in the cockpit of a rally car. We want to approach the next rally with the same focus as all the previous ones, do a good job and, ideally, finish on the podium. If we can do that in this strong field, we can still add up the points. But of course we are aware of our good starting position. We want the title and will do everything we can to secure it – whether that's in the Czech Republic or in Croatia is secondary for me."
As a one-off, Torbjörn Carlberg will take the place in the hot seat of his son’s Corsa Rally4 in the Czech Republic. The father-son duo won the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup title together in 2023. The reason for the swap is a very happy one: the wife of Calle's regular co-driver Jørgen Eriksen (31) is expecting their second child any day now.
Their Austrian teammates Luca Pröglhöf (24) and Christina Ettel (38) are aiming for a good individual result in the penultimate JERC race – especially after the bad luck at the Rally di Roma Capitale, which ended prematurely for last year's ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” champion after a crash. “The most important thing for us now is to get back into the cockpit and feel good again as quickly as possible,” says Pröglhöf. "I'm really looking forward to Barum because I think the characteristics of the rally will suit me. We can expect conditions that are familiar to me from Austria – changing road surfaces and grip conditions with some very dirty tracks. It will be important to have good pacenotes, so Dina and I are preparing by meticulously studying onboard recordings. I can't wait to get back in the Corsa Rally4 and prove that the crash in Rome is behind us."
The asphalt chase around the Czech industrial city of Zlín, located around 190 kilometers northeast of Vienna, is one of the most traditional rally competitions in Europe. First held in 1971, the “Barum” is considered extremely demanding for both man and machine due to its fast, undulating special stages. A real highlight is the Super Special Stage late on Friday evening from 9:15 p.m. in the heart of Zlín, where the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of Czech fans is almost palpable. The rally then gets underway in earnest the next morning at 9 a.m. with six special stages. The decision will be made on Sunday at 8 a.m. with six more stages. The first JERC participants are expected to reach the finish line in Zlín around 5 p.m. – and it is possible that not only a rally winner will be crowned, but also the 2025 Junior European Champion.
But first, Carlberg, Pröglhöf, and Co. have a tough job ahead of them. The teams have a total of 208 kilometers of special stages to complete. With twelve Rally4 cars, the JERC field is once again very strong. Rally fans can follow the action via live timing at www.opel-motorsport.com or via the paid live stream at www.rally.tv.
