Timo Scheider will compete for the second time with the young teams from the world’s first electric one-make rally cup at the ADAC Actronics Rallye Sulingen on May 3-4. The two-time DTM champion and former Opel works driver had already made a brilliant impression in the Corsa Rally Electric at the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg in the first Cup year of 2021, finishing his very first rally in a remarkable fifth place.
Since then, the 45-year-old, who now lives alternately in Lochau, Austria, and Miami, Florida, has gained further off-road experience, not least through his involvement in Extreme E and the World Rallycross Championship. In Extreme E this season, Scheider has a dual role as team principal and driver in the SUN Minimeal Team. Readers of the trade magazine MOTORSPORT aktuell recently honored the achievements of the former circuit ace by voting him “Rally Driver of the Year 2023”.
At the ADAC Actronics Rallye Sulingen, Timo Scheider will start in the VIP Corsa Rally Electric, which is run by his former DTM team Holzer Motorsport. Jara Hain (24, from Göttingen), a young but now very experienced co-driver, will be in the right-hand seat of the speedy electric car. The Hessian knows the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup from the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Since last year, she has been competing alongside Albert Fürst von Thurn und Taxis in a 300 hp Rally2 car. The duo recently won the Mitropa Cup classification at the Lavanttal Rally in Austria. On the first weekend in May 2024, Timo Scheider will now guide them through the challenging special stages around Sulingen with the legendary time chase through the former military depot on the Eickhofer Heide, formerly known as IVG area.
“I really enjoyed my first outing in the 2021 ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup,” says Timo Scheider. “Of course, I knew beforehand that I would still have a lot to learn in rallying. That proved to be the case. But I think we made a great debut in the Corsa Rally Electric, and it was always my wish to be able to build on this first rally experience. I’m delighted that it will now work out at the ADAC Actronics Rallye Sulingen. I feel that I’m in good hands with my co-driver Jara and I’m sure we’ll come to Sulingen well prepared. Because even if having fun is at the top of the agenda – I definitely don’t want to just roll along. Of course, it would be presumptuous to talk about a podium finish, but I would be delighted to be able to put an exclamation mark on one or the other special stage.”
Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott is also looking forward to the guest start of his former protégé: “We have experienced so much together that Timo has always been and will always be part of the Opel family. The fact that he is once again competing with the young guns in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup is a great thing. It will be an additional motivation for our teams to be able to compete against such an experienced and successful man. And Timo will have to give his best again to hold his own against the young rally hotshots. Because anyone who knows him knows that just taking part is not his aim.”
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