Exciting battle between the electric racers at the Vosges Grand-Est Rally. Austrian Luca Pröglhöf extends his lead in the standings with victory. The locals Rott/Rott move up to second place in the overall standings.
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 prevailed 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 all-female teams, Emma Chalvin/Emy Ailloud-Perraud (France) and Lyssia Baudet/Pauline Denis (Belgium), defied the adverse conditions in the tough asphalt chase around Gérardmer. Time and again, the heavens opened their floodgates for shorter or longer periods, which made tire selection a tricky business.
The close duel between Pröglhöf and guest driver Casale was decided in the penultimate special stage by a puncture on the Corsa Rally Electric of the 29-year-old from Merville, who is contesting the Stellantis Rallye Cup France this season. The result of the fourth special stage on Sunday morning made clear just how close it was at the top: after 26.02 highly demanding kilometers, Pröglhöf and Casale were separated by just three tenths of a second!
“It was a really tough affair,” said Pröglhöf. “We got off to a great start to the rally and were able to maintain a high rhythm on both days without having to take unnecessary risks. The entire field showed how quickly you can get a puncture or something similar here, and of course a bit of luck is also part of it. But I really enjoyed the special stages here again and we are obviously delighted with our second win of the season.”
“My first experience in the Corsa Rally Electric was a lot of fun. The car is nice to drive and the Cup is superbly organized. The puncture was obviously annoying, but we can live with second place. I hope we can come back again sometime,” said Casale, who did not score any points as a guest driver. The Rott brothers thus secured the 25 points for second place, which also moved the Alsatians up to second place in the intermediate standings. “That’s obviously great, we’re happy to take the points with us,” said a delighted Anthony. “Unfortunately, we damaged a shock absorber and a wishbone when we slipped on Sunday afternoon, which meant that we were no longer in contention for victory. I’m not entirely happy with our performance – but we’re obviously delighted with the podium finish.”
Casale/Delorme were not the only team to be slowed down by a puncture. Alizée Pottier and Manon Perrin in the second Corsa Rally Electric of the FFSA Academy had to change tires twice in SS5, as did the Hungarians Bendegúz Hangodi/Dániel Petrovszki, who had no fewer than five punctures in total on the tough asphalt tracks. “That wasn’t our rally,” sighed the Magyare. The same was true of the winners of the opening round, Christian Lemke/Jan-Eric Bemmann, who had to retire before the start of the first special stage due to a technical problem. The Spaniards Alex Español Jove/Patricia Sáiz Ruiloba had to skip the guest appearance in Alsace for scheduling reasons, but will be back on the grid for the fourth round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe”.
The teams will travel to Styria in Austria in four weeks’ time for the mid-season rally. On July 12/13, the Weiz Rally will be the venue for the third round of the world’s first electric one-make rally cup.
The TV channel n-tv will show a summary of the Vosges Grand-Est Rally as part of the “DRM – German Rally Championship” magazine on Sunday, June 30, at 11:15 and 19:15.
ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” points standings 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.
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