ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” 2025: Exciting Battles at Season Opener

Start of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” 2025 at the Sulingen Rally. Spaniard Alex Español celebrates his first win of the season after a thrilling battle. Two German drivers Christian Lemke and Kilian Nierenz finish on the podium.

The ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” got off to a successful start into its fifth season at the ADAC Actronics Rallye Sulingen. After a thrilling battle that was sometimes fought by fractions of a second, Spaniard Alex Español and his co-driver Borja Odriozola came out on top. After around 108 kilometers of special stages and two fastest special stage times, the Iberians were 8.1 seconds ahead of the German local heroes Christian Lemke/Jan-Eric Bemmann and newcomers Kilian Nierenz/Milena Raithel. Fourth place went to the winners of last year’s Cup final at the Central European Rally, Belgians Tom Heindrichs and Jonas Schmitz. “That was a great start,” said a delighted Español. “We had to find our speed in the first special stages yesterday, but from Saturday morning we had the confidence again. It was a tough piece of work, so we are all the happier about the victory.”

Last year’s winner in Sulingen, Christian Lemke, was satisfied with his start to the season: “We worked a lot over the winter, both in terms of our cooperation in the cockpit and the set-up of the car. This has all borne fruit. We didn’t take any more risks on the final stages. Sito drove a great rally and the competition is extremely strong again. The aim must be to score points regularly to hopefully be among the front runners at the end of the season.” Kilian Nierenz was beaming all over his face: “It went really well. We didn’t expect to be at the front here and even win the Power Stage at the end. We gave it our all and are now super happy. Of course, our goal was to be fighting for top positions, but we didn’t expect to be able to do it right from the start. Now we know and will just keep doing our best.”

The level of competition in the field of 15 Opel Corsa Rally Electric cars was remarkable. In addition to the four drivers already mentioned, the Frenchmen Anthony and Adrien Rott as well as the Austrian Maximilian Lichtenegger and his German co-driver Pascal Raabe each achieved a stage best time. However, both teams were unlucky. The Rott brothers were slowed down by a technical problem in SS7 and had to settle for 11th place in the end. Lichtenegger/Raabe lost almost eight minutes due to a puncture in connection with a broken jack in SS5 and finished in 13th place.

Guest driver Sebastian Lange was also very strong on the road. The winner of the ADAC Clubsport Rallye Sprint 2024 and his Cup-experienced co-driver Paul Gehbauer set scent marks with a fifth and sixth fastest time each, but slipped into a ditch twice and thus out of the classification. Lange: “I’m very disappointed because my primary goal was to finish. On the other hand, we showed that we can keep up, which was very pleasing. Overall, it was a great experience, even if the result was not what we had hoped for.”

Aoife Raftery and Hannah McKillop made a successful debut in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup. The Irish pair, who also compete in the Junior European Championship, got to grips with the unfamiliar Corsa Rally Electric better and better and finished in eighth place. “It was not only our first rally in the Cup, but also our first rally in Germany. There was a lot to learn,” admitted Raftery. “I was very surprised by the good performance of the Corsa Rally Electric, especially the high grip level that the car offers. We first had to feel our way around. It’s important to carry the speed and let the car run. We will benefit from this experience at other rallies. We felt very comfortable in the Cup. Everything is super organized, all crews have the same material, so everything is very fair. It was a great experience.”

Opel Head of Motorsport Jörg Schrott drew a thoroughly positive conclusion from the start of the fifth season of the world’s first electric one-make rally cup: “15 teams from seven nations put up an exciting fight. I was particularly impressed by the many newcomers, even though the veterans came out on top once again in the end. Our new charging infrastructure worked perfectly, as did the vehicles. This start to the season has whetted our appetite for more.”

The second round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSE” 2024 will take place on May 23/24 as part of the ELE Rally around Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” standings after 1 of 7 rounds

1. Español 30 points. 2. Lemke 29. 3. Nierenz 27. 4. Heindrichs 22. 5. Kamermans 18. 6. Wittenbeck 14. 7. M. Neulinger 12. 8. Raftery 10. 9. Jungnickel 8. 10. Rott 6. 11. Steitz and Lichtenegger, 5 each.