The 2023 Junior European Rally Championship season has come to an end for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team with a lot of light, but also some shadow. Opel Junior Timo Schulz (24, Siersburg) and his co-driver Michael Wenzel (47, Mehlingen) were in the fight for the podium places right from the start of the Rally Hungary in the Opel Corsa Rally4 entered by Stohl Racing, but were not rewarded for their good speed.

Lying in third place in the JERC classification, the Opel crew was slowed down by a leak in the hydraulic system in the 24.3-kilometer special stage 7 on Saturday. Struggling on without power steering, the Germans lost more than four minutes to the leaders in this and the following special stage before the damage could be repaired at the service in Nyíregyháza.

In the final four Sunday stages, Schulz once again showed his great talent and underlined this with two strong best times in SS11 and SS12. However, he was unable to finish higher than seventh overall in the Hungarian round of Europe's best junior rallies. At least Schulz made a leap in the JERC points classification from fifth to fourth place.

"It was a difficult rally, but also a very nice one," said the man from the Saarland at the finish. "We were fast on the road, the Corsa Rally4 basically ran very well again. Without the problem on Saturday, a podium finish would have been possible. It's nice that we were able to show what we're made of in the end. Overall, I can draw a very positive conclusion from this season. It was clear to me from the outset how high the stakes are in the JERC. But we showed that we can keep up with the best. I have learned an incredible amount. Thanks to the great team at Stohl Racing and Opel Motorsport for the outstanding support during an important step in my career."

Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott was pleased with the performance of his protégé: "The circumstances for Timo were different than last year for Laurent Pellier. He went into the first three gravel rallies in Poland, Latvia and Sweden with very little experience, but did very respectably there. In the three asphalt events in Italy, the Czech Republic and Hungary he was fully competitive and took an impressive victory at the Barum Rally. Mistakes can happen just as easily as technical problems, that's simply part of the game. So Timo can be very satisfied with his debut season at this high level. I certainly am. My thanks go to the whole team for their great efforts throughout the season."