ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup

• Exciting battle between the electric rally teams at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est
• With the victory, Austrian Luca Pröglhöf extends his lead in the standings
• Locals Anthony and Adrien Rott move up to second place in the overall classification

With his second win of the season, Luca Pröglhöf has extended his overall lead in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe”. Alongside his co-driver Christina Ettel, the 24-year-old Austrian won at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est ahead of the two local teams Julien Casale/Pierre Delorme and Anthony and Adrien Rott. In fourth and fifth place, two women’s teams, Emma Chalvin/Emy Ailloud-Perraud (France) and Lyssia Baudet/Pauline Denis (Belgium), braved the adverse conditions on the challenging roads around Gérardmer. The skies opened their floodgates again and again, which made the choice of tyres a tricky matter.

The exciting duel between Pröglhöf and guest driver Casale was decided on the penultimate special stage by a puncture on the Opel Corsa Rally Electric of the 29-year-old from Merville, who is competing in the Stellantis Rally Cup France this season. The result of the fourth special stage on Sunday morning showed just how close it was at the top: after 26.02 extremely demanding kilometres, Pröglhöf and Casale were separated by just three tenths of a second.

“It was really tough,” said Pröglhöf. “We got off to a great start and were able to maintain a fast pace on both days without having to take unnecessary risks. You could see from the whole field how quickly you can get a puncture, and of course a bit of luck is also involved. But I really enjoyed the special stages again and we are of course delighted with our second win of the season.”

“I had a lot of fun with my first experience in the Corsa Rally Electric. The car is nice to drive and the Cup is well organized. The puncture was of course annoying, but we can live with second place. I hope we can come back at some point,” summed up Casale, who did not receive any points as a guest driver. The Rott brothers secured the 25 points for second place and moved up to second in the interim classification. “That’s great, of course, we’re happy to take the points,” said driver Anthony Rott happily. “Unfortunately, we damaged a shock absorber and the suspension on Sunday afternoon, which meant we could no longer fight for victory. I’m not entirely happy with our performance, but of course we’re very pleased with the podium finish.”

Casale/Delorme were not the only team to be slowed by a puncture. Alizée Pottier and Manon Perrin in the second Corsa Rally Electric of the FFSA Academy had to change tyres twice on stage 5, as did the Hungarians Bendegúz Hangodi/Dániel Petrovszki, who had no fewer than five flat tyres in total.

Three Opel GSe models also attracted a lot of attention from spectators. Skilfully driven by French rally teams, the sporty Astra GSe ensured safety on the special stages as course cars ahead of the field of participants (combined values for Opel Astra GSe according to WLTP¹: weighted energy consumption 17.8 kWh electricity/100 km plus 1.3 l petrol/100 km; CO₂ emissions 30 g/km; CO₂ class B. With discharged battery: fuel consumption 6.2 l/100 km; CO₂ class E).

At the halfway point of the season, the teams of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup will travel to Styria in Austria in just under four weeks. The Rallye Weiz on July 12 and 13 will be the venue for a qualifying round of the world’s first electric rally one-make cup for the third time.

Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 3 of 8 rounds:

1. Pröglhöf                               95 points.

2. Rott                                       72.

3. Hangodi                               64.

4. Chalvin                                 49.

5. Español                                48.

6. Lemke                                   42.

7. Pottier and Baudet             28 each.

9. Melse                                    25.

10. Wittenbeck                         23.

11. Kurstjens                            16.

12. Kamermans and Bayer    14 each.

^[1] A vehicle’s values not only depend on the vehicle’s efficient use of fuel, but are also influenced by driving behaviour and other non-technical factors.