With his third victory of the season at the Rally di Roma Capitale, Sweden's Calle Carlberg has taken a big step closer to winning the Junior European Rally Championship (JERC) title. In the overall European Championship standings, the 24-year-old Opel junior extended his lead from 26 to 37 points after four of six races and could theoretically clinch the title at the next rally in the Czech Republic. Carlberg's Austrian teammate Luca Pröglhöf was unlucky, having to retire from the asphalt chase around the Italian capital after an accident.
The Rally di Roma Capitale was a carbon copy of the last race in Poland at the top of the JERC. With a series of fastest times, Calle Carlberg and co-driver Jørgen Eriksen (31) took the lead. Their margin only became comfortable when their main rival Sergi Pérez retired on Sunday morning. With a lead of more than a minute over the second-placed driver, Carlberg eased off the pace in the last three special stages and secured victory.
“The rally went perfectly,” commented Carlberg. "We had more pressure here than in the last gravel rallies, but the Corsa Rally4 also worked perfectly on asphalt. Jørgen and I didn't make any crucial mistakes, and the team did a great job as always. Our lead in the overall standings looks comfortably secure, but that won't tempt us to take our foot off the gas in the last two rallies in the Czech Republic and Croatia. For now, we're just delighted with another top result for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team."
Luca Pröglhöf was unlucky, though. After a good start, last year's champion of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” rolled his car in the fourth special stage. The 25-year-old from Sittendorf and his co-driver Christina Ettel (38) were uninjured, but the Corsa Rally4 proved beyond repair at the scene. “It's a shame that this great rally ended so unhappily for us,” said Pröglhöf. "Friday alone, with the police escort through Rome and the first stage at the Colosseum, was a cool experience. Saturday also started well with the sixth-fastest time in SS2. In the fourth stage, the car understeered so badly in a fast right-hand corner following a surface change, that I couldn't correct it. Christina and I are fine. We're not going to let it get us down, but want to keep learning. The team is building me up and supporting me as best they can. I'm very grateful to them for that too.“
Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott offered both praise and consolation: ”Calle dominated the strong JERC field in much the same way as he did recently in Hungary and Poland. That was very impressive. We won't celebrate any titles until they've been won, and we'll approach the next rallies with the same focus and motivation as the previous ones. But the starting position is undoubtedly excellent. Luca had to learn the hard way on these demanding asphalt stages, which is sometimes the price a JERC rookie has to pay at this level. He will learn from this and go into the next events stronger."
The fifth round of the 2025 Junior European Rally Championship will take place from August 15 to 17 as part of the Barum Czech Rally Zlín in the Czech Republic.
