!NEW! Triple Victory for Opel at Ypres Rallye

• Opel teams dominate fourth round of FIA ERC Junior
• Three ADAM R2 winners – Aleks Zawada ahead of Marijan Griebel and Julius Tannert
• Bad luck costs Opel works drivers Griebel and Bergkvist near certain victory

Marijan Griebel, Stefan Clemens, Cathy Derousseaux, Aleks Zawada, Julius Tannert and Jennifer Thielen (from left to right) celebrate the Opel one-two-three at the Ypres Rallye.

Opel reinforced its strong position in the FIA ERC Junior at the Kenotek Ypres Rallye in West Flanders, Belgium. Pole Aleks Zawada and his French co-driver Cathy Derousseaux celebrated their first victory in their customer Opel ADAM R2, ahead of German Opel works drivers Marijan Griebel/Stefan Clemens from the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team and Julius Tannert and his Luxembourgian co-driver Jennifer Thielen in another customer Opel ADAM R2. Three of this year‘s four season victories in the FIA ERC Junior have now gone to the brand with the blitz!

“A fantastic day, a fantastic car, a fantastic rallye,” said an elated Zawada, who seemed to be out of the running for victory at the beginning of the second day after his 190 hp front-wheel drive car was stuck in a ditch for a minute after a harmless spin. But the Polish-French team did not give up, fought their way back and ultimately also benefitted from their competitors’ back luck. “Luck also plays a role, and the score is settled at the very end,” said Zawada. “I am really sorry for Emil and Marijan. Both deserved to win. But I am overjoyed that our efforts resulted in victory.”

The Opel works drivers Emil Bergkvist and Marijan Griebel battled for the lead from the first kilometer before both were impeded by mishaps. First Bergkvist had to retire his Opel ADAM R2 in the twelfth of seventeen stages with an engine problem. And then Griebel, who went into the last stage with a 36-second lead, suffered a left rear puncture shortly before the finish line. The 26-year-old from Hahnweiler still managed to take his Opel ADAM R2 across the finish line on one rim, but the time loss of nearly one minute sent him and his co-driver Stefan Clemens (28, from Thailen) to second place behind Zawada.

Bad luck strikes: Opel factory driver Marijan Griebel was leading until a damaged tire on the last stage of the Ypres Rallye saw him drop to second.

Griebel was understandably frustrated: “After a few days, I’ll probably be able to be pleased with our good performance and Opel Motorsport’s superior showing in this magnificent setting in front of thousands of excited spectators here in Ypres. But right now disappointment is the overwhelming feeling. Opel’s triple victory clearly proves that especially on asphalt, ADAM R2 currently sets the benchmark in its class. So we’re going into the last two FIA ERC Junior events in Estonia and the Czech Republic with a lot of self-confidence.”

Lead defending: Opel factory driver Emil Bergkvist defended first place in the FIA ERC Junior despite having to retire from the Ypres Rallye.

Swede Bergkvist (21, from Torsaker), who together with his co-driver Joakim Sjöberg (29, from Ösmo) won the first two FIA ERC Junior rounds in Latvia and Ireland, was disappointed but composed. “We had absolutely everything we needed to win here today. But things like this happen in motorsports, and there is no one I can blame for it. To be honest, I’d rather fight to win and have to pull out because of bad luck than be too slow and finish fourth. And we still have the best shot at the FIA ERC Junior championship.”

Indeed, the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team’s position in the FIA ERC Junior is still excellent. As only four of six rallye results are taken into consideration for the final points tally, Bergkvist’s withdrawal in Ypres could be a void result. And as his two toughest pursuers also failed to finish the race, he even increased his lead in the ranking after four rounds by two to 26 points. Griebel’s second-place finish put him in third place in the overall standings. He is currently 43 points behind his team colleague Bergkvist.

Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott commented on his charges’ results with mixed feelings: “Today two hearts beat in my chest. We celebrated a fantastic result for Opel that proves that our customer ADAM R2s are just as powerful as both works cars. I really feel for Emil and Marijan. Both gave a fantastic performance that deserved a victory. Marijan really had everything under control until the last stage. But I’m also happy for Aleks and Julius, who showed that they are capable of keeping up with the fast pace at the top of the FIA ERC Junior. Overall the performance of the Opel ADAM R2 was extremely good. And we are of course happy to go into the races in Estonia and the Czech Republic knowing this.”

!NEW! Opel ADAM R2 Takes European Rallye Scene By Storm

• Strong showing: Opel ADAM R2 impresses with top performance
• Great results: 12 class wins to date from 15 starts
• High interest: Customer inquiries from many European countries

Shooting Star: The 190 hp Opel ADAM R2 has already racked up 12 class wins from 15 starts in national championship rounds in Germany, Spain, France and Austria.

The Opel ADAM R2 has made a huge impact on the European rallye scene in the seven months since it was homologated for competition by the international motorsports federation FIA (Fédération internationale de l’Automobile). The 190 hp ADAM R2 has already racked up no less than 12 class wins from 15 starts in national championship rounds in Germany, Spain, France and Austria.

In Spain, Esteban Vallin and co-driver Borja Odriozola are leading the R2 class in an ADAM R2 entered by the Spanish importer, while Yoann Bonato and Thierry Michaud in an Opel Motorsport Team France car are also top of their rankings in France. And after a false start on their debut event, Daniel Wollinger and Bernhard Holzer have got into their stride in the Austrian Rallye Championship, claiming two class victories in the last two rounds. Not to be outdone, the ADAM R2 prepared by German customer team Audex Motorsport from Extertal and driven by Dutchman Timo van der Marel has also secured a class win on its debut event in the Netherlands. The German-Luxembourgian duo Julius Tannert and Jennifer Thielen, one of the leading teams in this season’s ADAC Opel Rallye Cup, finished a strong second in the Rallye Luxembourg in a highly competitive field of 19 R2 vehicles.

ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team drivers are providing even more reasons to be cheerful. Marijan Griebel/Alexander Rath and Fabian Kreim/Josefine C. Beinke have taken clear victories in every Division 5 round of the ADAC Rallye Masters to date, failing just once to take a double win. These young Opel works drivers have reached the second stage of Opel and ADAC’s talent promotion pyramid after finishing as the best placed junior drivers in the 2013 ADAC Opel Rallye Cup and achieving selection from a driver screening session. The goal of the Opel/ADAC program is to bring a young German driver to the pinnacle of European rallying in the mid-term – at the wheel of an Opel, of course.

Further proof of the Opel ADAM R2’s competitiveness has come from the GEKP Ypres Rallye in Belgium, held on June 20-21. In a starting field of 44 R2 vehicles, representing all brands who have such a fast car in their portfolio – including all 15 teams from the FIA Junior European Championship – Marijan Griebel/Alexander Rath were battling for a podium finish on one of the most demanding asphalt rallies in Europe when they were halted by drivetrain trouble at the beginning of the 20th and final stage as they were in third place. Former European champion Bruno Thiry was also having an excellent rallye on his debut in an ADAM R2 when he hit a rock and had to retire. Fabian Kreim/Josefine C. Beinke met with a similar fate on the last stage but still managed to finish ninth in the R2 category after stopping to change a wheel.

“The ADAM R2 has completely fulfilled our high expectations to now,” says Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott. “The car is quick and reliable. And our teams praise its driving characteristics and how well it responds to changes in set-up. The ADAM R2’s strong performance is already sparking interest from many customer teams across Europe and we are, of course, delighted about that.”