The ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team was not rewarded for an impressive performance at the “ERC JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion”, the fifth of six rounds of the Junior European Rally Championship (JERC). Swedish Opel Junior Calle Carlberg and his Norwegian co-driver Jørgen Eriksen in the Opel Corsa Rally4 entered by Stohl Racing battled for the lead right from the start, setting the fastest time in five of the eleven special stages and had their sights set on a top result when a puncture in the 26.5-kilometre SS7 cost them almost three minutes while leading.

The Scandinavian duo fought on undaunted, reducing the gap to the leader from 2:55 at the start to 2:25 minutes in the finish, but had to settle for fifth place in the end. As a result, her Swedish Opel brand colleague Mille Johansson clinched the European Junior Championship title in Wales with second place. For Carlberg, last year's champion of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, the season finale in Poland in mid-October is still about the runner-up position.

“We gave it our all, once again had a very fast car and can be satisfied with our performance. But of course it is extremely frustrating to lose our title chances in this way,” admitted the 24-year-old. “After all, nobody needs to blame themselves. A puncture can happen at any time in rallying, and unfortunately it was us this time. Because the stage was so long, there was no other option for Jørgen and me than to get out and change the wheel in the stage. After that, we attacked again and showed that we had the pace to win here. Congratulations to Mille. He was a strong opponent throughout the season and deserves the title.”

Besides the disappointment about Carlberg's bad luck, the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team also had reason to celebrate. Timo Schulz and co-driver Michael Wenzel made a perfect start to the very demanding asphalt rally around Aberystwyth on the northwest coast of Wales with two best times, did also well in the following stages and were rewarded with a third place in the end. “We are very satisfied,” emphasized the 25-year-old from Siersburg in Saarland, who moved up to fourth place in the championship standings. “The pace at the front was incredibly high, we all drove at the absolute limit. We already had a mega-cool fight yesterday, were able to establish ourselves in third place and brought it home today in extremely difficult, changeable conditions. My thanks go to Michael and the entire ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team for the perfect job!”

Opel Motosport boss Jörg Schrott felt both joy and sorrow: “I am very sorry for Calle and Jørgen. They were the fastest team this weekend and were unfortunately not rewarded for their great performance. Congratulations to Mille, who has been very strong all season. And of course it's a small consolation for me that at least another Opel driver won the title. I'm delighted that Timo and Michael finished on the podium, as they've already had some difficult moments this season. I'm sure that we'll be competing for victory again in the season finale.”

The Rally Silesia takes place from October 11 to 13 around Katowice.