Successful First Outing for Opel Corsa-e Rally

• Impressive debut of world’s first electric one-make rally car
• Corsa-e Rally Griebel/Braun as course car on Rallye du Touquet
• Class victory for the Corsa Rally4 rounds off Opel’s strong performance in France

The new Opel Corsa-e Rally completed its first outing on a rally with flying colours. At the Rallye du Touquet, the opening round of the French asphalt championship, Opel rally test driver Marijan Griebel and his co-driver Tobias Braun drove the first electric one-make rally car ahead of the field of more than 200 competitors over a total of 11 special stages.

The Opel Corsa-e Rally convinced with a strong performance and impeccable reliability during the total of 131 special stage kilometres over the roads on the northwest coast of France. The agile electric car from Rüsselsheim is therefore well prepared for the opening round of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup on June 11-12 at the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg. A total of 14 cars with teams from five nations are expected at the start of the world’s first electric one-make rally cup.

“It was really fun to do a rally again and to drive the Corsa-e Rally over the demanding roads around Le Touquet,” said Marijan Griebel. “The car went brilliantly on both days. I think we raised quite a few eyebrows!”

Opel Motorsport Director, Jörg Schrott was also very pleased: “This first outing on a real rally was a milestone in this project. The Corsa-e Rally made a convincing debut, we didn’t have a single technical problem on either day. The car also attracted a lot of interest – from the officials, from the other teams and from the media representatives. We are now “ready to go” and are looking forward to the start of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup season at the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg.”

Impressive class win for the Corsa Rally4 in France

Opel Motorsport’s strong showing at the Rallye du Touquet was rounded off by the class victory of the new Corsa Rally4 in the RC4 category. The French privateers Stéphane Lefebvre and co-driver Gilles De Turckheim won by 15.2 seconds over Vigion/Verger in the Renault Clio Rally4 after a tough battle, celebrating the first class win for Opel’s new customer rally car. In the overall standings, the Corsa Rally4 ranked an excellent 19th as the best front-wheel drive vehicle. “The competition was strong, we had to give everything”, said winner Lefebvre at the finish. “The Corsa Rally4 ran like clockwork on both days. The car combines great handling with impressive performance.”