Leadership Change of ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup

• Second half of ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” underway
• Calle Carlberg wins ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye comfortably from Max Reiter
• Swede now leads World’s First Electric One Make Rally Cup

With an outstanding performance, Calle Carlberg won fifth round ofADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” as part of ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye. 23-year-old Swede, as always guided by his father Torbjörn in “hot seat” of Opel Corsa Rally Electric, set best time in nine of 10 special stages and finally celebrated with a lead of 35.4 seconds over Max Reiter (23) and his co-driver Conny Nemenich his second win of season.

Ttitle fight between Carlberg and Reiter has now really flared up. While the Scandinavian travelled to St. Wendel five points behind local hero, Carlberg now leads overall standings of world's first electric one-make rally cup by the same distance ahead of Reiter.

“I'm really happy about my second victory in ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup,” beamed Carlberg. “We found a good rhythm in cockpit right from start. However, I was quite tense for a long time because I really wanted to win. It wasn't until midday on Saturday, when lead had grown a bit, that I relaxed. It's good to be at top of table now. But nothing changes in my prognosis: title will only be decided at  finale!”

“We tried everything, but in end it wasn't enough,” said three-time winner of season, Reiter. “In stage 5 we cracked a wishbone, which cost us some time. Towards end it became clear that we wouldn't catch Calle, so we wanted to at least score full points on Power Stage. Unfortunately, I made a big mistake right there, so we ended up empty-handed. I congratulate Calle on the win and at the same time I promise him a tough fight for coming rallies.”

Behind two permanent rivals, Joe Baur, with Fabian Peter at his side, drove onto podium for first time in his still young rally career and was correspondingly pleased: “It finally worked out,” said the 24-year-old. “We were quite close a couple of times, but here we managed a clean rally from first to last stage. This makes ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup even more fun!”

Sarah Rumeau, however, was unlucky. 28-year-old Frenchwoman and her co-driver Julie Amblard were once again aiming for their first podium finish when they were slowed down by a transmission issue in their Opel Corsa Rally Electric on fourth special stage. They were back in action the following day, but they could not get more than eighth place and a point for fifth in “Power Stage”. In overall standings, Rumeau/Amblard are now 16 points behind the Austrians Luca Pröglhöf/Dina Ettel, who had to settle for fourth place. Fifth were Christian Lemke and Stefan Schneeweiß, who also hold this position in the standings.

For their sixth showdown of year, Cup teams will travel to France week after next, where another highlight of season awaits electric rally cars, Rallye Mont Blanc Morzine.

Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup 2023 (after 5 of 8 rounds):

1. Carlberg, 156 points.

2. Reiter 151.

3. Pröglhöf 105.

4. Rumeau 89.

5. Lemke 74.

6. Baur 62.

7. Van Hoof 56.

8. Gudet 46.

9. Tarta 39.

10. Callea and Wittenbeck, 27 each.