Although he was not at the top of the podium in a Cup race for once, Luca Pröglhöf maintained his excellent chances of winning the title in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” at the Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine. Despite technical problems that relegated him and co-driver Christina Ettel to fifth place in the end, the 25-year-old Austrian lost only one point to his closest rivals, Frenchmen Anthony and Adrien Rott. The Alsatians finished third at the foot of the highest mountain in the Alps, but were unable to collect any “Power Stage” points, while Pröglhöf scored five additional points with the final fastest time.
In the overall standings, Pröglhöf now has a 41-point lead over the Rotts and can theoretically close the title gap at the next round. The championship leader was therefore not too disappointed: “It was a mixed rally. After a good start, we unfortunately lost power twice and lost a lot of time. With the best time and maximum points in the Power Stage, we managed to limit the damage and are still well on course in the championship.” Anthony Rott knows what a difficult task lies ahead of them if they want to catch Pröglhöf: “We're not giving up, but it's going to be tough. We struggled a bit here at the beginning, but got better and better. It was a fantastic rally.”
The victory was celebrated by guest drivers Jérôme Chavanne and Emilie Galleano, who made full use of their knowledge of the route and prevailed over Christian Lemke and Jan-Eric Bemmann by just 0.6 seconds after a tough battle and a puncture suffered by the Germans in the final special stage. However, as Chavanne/Galleano were not eligible for points or prize money, Lemke scored the full 30 points for their second triumph of the season. “It was a fantastic rally, great stages, wonderful scenery,” enthused the 24-year-old from Martfeld. “We had a really great flow at times, it was incredible fun. Unfortunately, the puncture on the last stage cost us victory, which was obviously frustrating. On the other hand, we took full points for the Cup classification, so everything was fine.”
An exciting battle broke out at the front right from the start. Spaniards Alex Español Jove/Daniel Rivera De La Red initially took the lead until they damaged their radiator in a slip-up in SS5 and lost around two minutes. After Pröglhöf also lost time one special stage later, Christian Lemke took the lead at the end of the first stage. After two best times in a row, guest driver Chavanne took the lead on Saturday morning and never relinquished it. The Rott brothers received the points for second place, Español those for third. “It was a great rally in front of this wonderful backdrop. However, I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance,” admitted the Iberian. “The mistake in the lead robbed us of any chance of a top result. More would have been possible here.”
Johannes Wittenbeck and Maximilian Kugler were once again strong on the road, finishing sixth in the points for fifth place and just ahead of Dutch drivers Fabian Kamermans and Stefan Müller. The fastest lady in the field was once again Emma Chalvin with co-driver Emy Ailloud-Perraud, although the Frenchwomen from the FFSA Academy also put their Corsa Rally Electric off the track in SS5, but got off more lightly than Axel Bayer and Aaron Jungnickel. The guest drivers also crashed so hard into an embankment in the treacherous fifth stage that the Corsa Rally Electric was badly damaged. With the active support of the Opel Motorsport technicians, the rtd.motorsport team led by rally veteran Horst Rotter repaired the damaged Corsa so flawlessly in a night shift that Bayer/Jungnickel were able to take part again on Saturday morning.
Dr. Gerd Ennser also had an exciting guest appearance. The ADAC Sports President drove the VIP Corsa Rally Electric alongside his son Fabian through the difficult mountain sections and visibly enjoyed his rally debut: “My goal was to experience first-hand how the Opel Corsa Rally Electric works and how the cooperation between Opel and ADAC works in practice, and I have to say: I'm thrilled! Opel and ADAC are doing a brilliant job together. And to be able to drive such a great rally as here at Mont Blanc is great fun. I congratulate everyone involved and believe that the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup has a great future.”
The seventh and penultimate round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” will take place on September 28/29 at the Rallye Coeur de France around Vendôme in central France.
Point Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 6 of 8 rounds
1. Pröglhöf 189 points. 2. Rott 148. 3. Español 122. 4. Lemke 105. 5. Chalvin 80. 6. Wittenbeck 73. 7. Hangodi 66. 8. Baudet 65. 9. Pottier 50. 10. Melse 37. 11. Kamermans 33. 12. Bayer 20. 13. Felke 13. 14. Den Hartigh 12.
