Opel Corsa Rally Electric: Scandinavian Victory in French Alps

• Sixth round of ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” in France
• Calle Carlberg wins Rallye Mont Blanc Morzine and slightly extends lead
• Max Reiter takes second place ahead of Frenchwoman Sarah Rumeau

As at last year’s premiere, the Rallye Mont Blanc Morzine in 2023 was once again the scene of exciting battles in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe”. With his third win of the season, Calle Carlberg was able to pull away slightly from his pursuers at the head of the world’s first electric one-make rally cup. The asphalt event at the foot of the highest mountain in the Alps also saw another tough duel between the 23-year-old Swede and his rival Max Reiter (also 23, from Germany). After seven special stages over a total of 131 kilometres Carlberg took victory by 17.4 seconds.

After Carlberg, as always with father Torbjörn as co-driver, had won the first three stages on Friday, a puncture on the Scandinavians‘ Corsa Rally Electric reshuffled the cards around four kilometres from the end of SS 5. But with a fantastic best time in the 29.1-km-long stage on Saturday morning, Carlberg converted his 7.8 second deficit over Reiter and his co-driver Conny Nemenich into a lead of 14.5 seconds.

Carlberg defended his lead in the final, 20-km-long “Power Stage” and was beaming from ear to ear at the finish in Morzine: “This win feels fantastic! We simply enjoyed the rally. That is the difference from last year: I have a lot of confidence in the cockpit, I am relaxed and I just look forward to every special stage. It is clear to me that there are still two tough rallies ahead of us and nothing has been decided in the title fight, but the trend is positive!”

In the overall standings, two rounds before the end of the season, Carlberg is now 11 points ahead of Reiter, who is far from conceding defeat. “The Rallye Mont Blanc was another beautiful event, maybe even a little more demanding than last year. We are still approaching everything calmly, having fun in the car and we will try to shorten the gap at the Rallye Stemweder Berg so that we can then hopefully turn things around in the final round (the WRC Central European Rally).”

After a strong performance, Sarah Rumeau and co-driver Julie Amblard finally celebrated their long-overdue first podium in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup at their home event. With the second-fastest time on the longest stage of the rally, just 1.3 seconds behind Carlberg, the 28-year-old once again demonstrated her enormous potential. “We finally did it,” said Rumeau happily. “The rally went great. We had a big fight with Max. Of course we would have liked to come second, as we were only two seconds behind before the last stage. But when we hit a stone in the Power Stage and feared a puncture, we decided to settle for the podium place. It is nice that we are closer to the top here again. And we are not done yet…” Just beaten by the fast ladies, Luca Pröglhöf/Christina Ettel and Christian Lemke/Stephan Schneeweiß finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Special guest: Miss France in Corsa Rally Electric

To the delight of teams and fans, Miss France 2021, Amandine Petit, paid a visit to the Opel Service Park. She was chauffeured in the Corsa Rally Electric over the demanding special stages of the rally by Rumeau and the first electric rally cup champion, Laurent Pellier. “The two days as a guest of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup were an incredible experience,” beamed the 25-year-old. “I admit I was a bit nervous at first, but I quickly realised that Sarah and Laurent had everything under control. From then on I was able to enjoy the spectacular rides in the Corsa Rally Electric.”

The seventh and penultimate round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” 2023 will take place on September 29/30 as part of the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg around Lübbecke in Germany.

Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup (after 6 of 8 rounds):

1. Carlberg, 191 points.
2. Reiter 180.
3. Pröglhöf 126.
4. Rumeau 114.
5. Lemke 91.
6. Van Hoof 76.
7. Baur 72.
8. Gudet 46.
9. Mendoza 43.
10. Tarta 39.

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