Luca Pröglhöf made sure of his victory at the Coeur de France Rally, securing the title in the world's first electric rally one-make cup at the penultimate round of the season. Second place was enough for the 25-year-old Austrian and his co-driver Christina Ettel at the asphalt event around Vendôme, behind the strong Spaniards Alex Español/Daniel Rivera de la Red, who celebrated their first victory in the Opel Corsa Rally Electric after a convincing performance. Fourth place behind guest drivers Arthur Roché/Quentin Proust was not enough for brothers Anthony and Adrien Rott to challenge Pröglhöf for the title at the Central European Rally final in three weeks' time.

At the finish, the new champion was overjoyed: “It was one of the most challenging rallies I have ever driven, because minimizing risk was our top priority. Our plan worked perfectly, we drove cleanly, didn't make any mistakes and didn't have any problems. Now we are overjoyed and a bit speechless. It's awesome that we've already clinched the title. Now we can go into the finale with a clear head and enjoy the WRC race. First of all, we're going to have a big party!"

Winner Español delivered a strong performance in the ‘Heart of France’ (Coeur de France), setting the best time in six of the eight special stages and finishing 33.6 seconds ahead of Pröglhöf. “We immediately found a good rhythm and were able to complete the rally without any problems. I'm really happy about the victory. We were close in previous rallies, so it's all the better that it worked out this time,” said the Opel Spain driver.

Anthony Rott was in third place until the final Power Stage, but had to let Roché go ahead. At least the Frenchman received the full points for third place. Although his 42-point deficit to Pröglhöf is no longer catchable, the runner-up spot is within reach: “We congratulate Luca and Dina, who were the best throughout the season and absolutely deserve the title. We can also be very satisfied with our own performance. It's a shame that our place on the podium was taken away from us in the last stage. But it was another good rally and now we want to try to secure the vice-championship title.”

Alizée Pottier and Manon Perrin, from the FFSA Academy team, achieved their best result of the season with 5th place and points for fourth place. ”It was a great rally. We had no problems and had a lot of fun on the demanding special stages here. And the fact that it went so well at my home rally, is of course particularly nice,” said the 23-year-old from Le Mans, just 75 kilometers from Vendôme.

The finale of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” will take place on October 19/20 as part of the Central European Rally, the second round of the World Rally Championship to be held under the aegis of the ADAC. The speedy electric cars will set up camp in Hauzenberg for the WRC event.

Point standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 7 of 8 rounds

1. Pröglhöf 216 points. 2. Rott 174. 3. Español 155. 4. Lemke 120. 5. Chalvin 94. 6. Wittenbeck 90. 7. Pottier 69. 8. Hangodi 66. 9. Baudet 65. 10. Melse 37. 11. Kamermans 33. 12. Den Hartigh 24. 13. Bayer 20. 14. Felke 13.