Sensation at the electrifying finale

Final of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” at the Central European Rally. Belgian guest driver Tom Heindrichs wins the 2024 Cup finale at the World Championship round. Huge bad luck in the end and still runner-up for Frenchman Anthony Rott.

What a debut for Tom Heindrichs in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe”! At the grand season finale as part of the Central European Rally, the 20-year-old half-brother of World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville immediately celebrated his first victory in the world’s first electric one-make cup alongside his co-driver Jonas Schmitz. Even though he received neither points nor prize money as a guest driver, the young Belgian was speechless at the finish in Passau: “I would never have expected that! On the first few kilometers we thought: Oh dear, where is this going? As a result, however, we quickly found our way into the car and continuously improved. We dedicate the victory to the team around Philipp Reich and Johannes Fürst, who made this possible and were just as motivated as we were. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun in this great atmosphere. I take my hat off to Opel and ADAC. They have built up a super Cup here, a perfect entry platform for professional rallying.”

Only 4.7 seconds behind the Belgians, Christian Lemke and Jan-Eric Bemmann crossed the finish line and thus collected the full points for the overall standings for the third time this season. “It was a tough rally. We had slept through the beginning yesterday a bit, especially since my seat adjustment was not optimal, so that my leg even fell asleep on a test. Today we were able to work our way forward again and in the end we scored the full points. All in all, we can be very satisfied. The final here as part of the World Championship round was a great event, super organised, the stages were great, everyone was in a good mood, it was a lot of fun.”

In the overall standings, Lemke thus consolidated fourth place in the final standings and even closed in on the Spaniard Alex Español. His ambitions to win had already suffered a bitter setback in the first special stage due to a slip and the subsequent repair to his Corsa Rally Electric. At least the driver of Opel Spain made up for it by winning the final “Power Stage”. Third place went to the young Dutchman Fabian Kamermans, who thus put himself in an excellent position in the three-way battle against his compatriots Hank Melse and Esmee Den Hartigh for a cockpit in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup 2025.

The brothers Anthony and Adrien Rott were extremely unlucky, as they were on course for victory until the last special stage, but slid off the track in the “Power Stage” and thus fell back to tenth place. Driver Anthony was inconsolable: “It was a very difficult rally that started pretty well for us and went really well until three kilometers before the finish. Unfortunately, we made a small mistake that cost us the victory! It’s very difficult to end this last rally like this, but we’re keeping our heads high. What remains is a good performance over the entire season.”

After all, the Alsatians secured the runner-up title behind the Austrian Luca Pröglhöf, who had been sidelined by an atypical pneumonia at the season finale.

In Daniel Mayer, the Waldherr Motorsport team very quickly found a very adequate replacement. Without much preparation, the 24-year-old Viennese accepted the challenge and finished fifth behind the German guest drivers René Noller/Stephan Schneeweiß. Positions 6 and 7 were secured by Johannes Wittenbeck and Maximilian Kugler as well as the Frenchwomen Emma Chalvin and Amandine Borderie. In the year-end ranking, the 23-year-old FFSA Academy pilot finished fifth as the best participant – equal on points with Wittenbeck, who is ranked behind Chalvin due to the worse individual results.

Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott drew a positive conclusion from the last Cup race of the year: “The ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup presented itself in the best possible way in front of the impressive World Championship backdrop. The 16 Corsa Rally Electric put on a good show for the approximately 90,000 spectators. The fight for victory was just as exciting as in all races of the season. We had numerous fast guest drivers and more than 30 enthusiastic guests from the Opel dealerships of Germany and Austria as well as our sponsor Total Energies here. We put on a great presentation of our cup in the middle of the city of Hauzenberg in front of a large audience, the atmosphere was something very special. I’m very happy with the finale and the whole season. Electric rallying works, it’s fun and offers a perfect platform for a junior one-make cup.”

Final standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 8 rounds

1. Pröglhöf 216 points
2. Rott 188
3. Español 170
4. Lemke 154
5. Chalvin 113
6. Wittenbeck 113
7. Pottier 77
8. Hangodi 66
9. Baudet 65
10. Kamermans 61
11. Melse 37
12. Bayer 36
13. Den Hartigh 36
14. Felke 13