ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup: Dominant Home Win for Luca Pröglhöf at Rallye Weiz

15 Jul 2024

• Pröglhöf leads at halfway point of ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup "powered by GSe"
• Austrian claims third win of the season on home event at Rallye Weiz
• Strong performance from motorbike ace Matthias Walkner in Corsa Rally Electric debut

Rüsselsheim. Luca Pröglhöf celebrated his third win of the season in this year's ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup "powered by GSe" at the weekend. Even a heavy storm that struck the Weiz Rally service park on Friday afternoon, damaged the team tents and caused the entire rally to be interrupted until the next morning could not stop him. Alongside his co-driver Christina "Dina" Ettel, the 24-year-old Austrian showed a phenomenal performance at his home rally, was the fastest in 10 of the 11 special stages and had a lead of 2:11 minutes over the runners-up, the Frenchmen Anthony Rott and Hervé Faucher, at the finish on Saturday evening. Third place went to the Spanish duo Alex Español Jove/Patricia Sáiz Ruiloba.

"Mission accomplished," rejoiced Pröglhöf, who increased his lead in the overall standings to 31 points at the halfway point of the season. "We had prepared as best as possible, studied a lot of onboards from last year and made perfect pace notes. We quickly got into the rhythm and were able to set a fast pace without having to take too many risks." On the ninth special stage, the Austrian even set the 10th fastest time in the overall field in his Corsa Rally Electric, which boasts 100 kW (136 hp) and 260 Nm of torque; Pröglhöf/Ettel left behind some all-wheel drive cars that were twice as powerful. "Downhill it's just fire away!" laughed Pröglhöf. "The Corsa Rally Electric handles fantastically, and after three years I trust myself and the car so much that I can push myself to the limit in these sections. It was great fun again."

Rott was also happy with his performance again, but the Alsatian wants more: "We had prepared very well for the Rallye Weiz after things didn't go so well here last year. I benefited a lot from Hervé's experience. We got a good feel for the changing grip conditions and felt comfortable in the car. Now we hope that we can do a little better in Stemwede and put more pressure on our friend Luca." With the podium finish, Alex Español moved up to third place in the overall rankings: "It was a difficult rally, we struggled to find our rhythm on the first day. Congratulations to Luca, he was unbeatable here. But all in all, I am also happy with my performance."

The fastest woman in the field this time was the Belgian Lyssia Baudet, with Frenchwoman Lea Sam-Caw-Frève in the co-driver's seat. Baudet, supported by the Belgian automobile association RACB, finished fourth ahead of the French FFSA sponsored drivers Emma Chalvin/Emy Ailloud-Perraud, who thus retained their fourth place in the interim rankings. "The first rally with Lea went really well," said Lyssia Baudet happily. "The rally was very challenging due to the constantly changing grip conditions, but we got better and better. Fourth place is great, but I won't be really happy until we can move up a bit."

Austrian Matthias Walkner also made a great impression. The winner of the motorcycle classification of the 2018 Dakar Rally put on a brilliant performance alongside co-driver Thomas Haider in what was only his second car rally and was very fast as the pilot of the course car. "I have to say that this electric rally one-make cup works very well," said Walkner. "We felt perfectly at home and had a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised at how well balanced the Corsa Rally Electric is. With every kilometre we got better at handling the car and built up more and more confidence. I'm looking forward to hopefully more!"

Journalist Reiner Kuhn and co-driver Ilka Minor also did well in their first outing in the Corsa Rally Electric - apart from lightly touching a wall in the first special stage. "After that, we took it a bit easier," said the experienced rally writer with a smile. "When I got used to the car and became more confident, the fun increased. I achieved my goal and brought the car safely to the finish line."

The fifth round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup "powered by GSe" will take place on August 9/10 as part of the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg around Lübbecke.

Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup "powered by GSe" after 4 of 8 rounds:

1. Pröglhöf 130 points.

2. Rott 99.

3. Español 74.

4. Chalvin 68.

5. Hangodi 64.

6. Baudet 48.

7. Lemke 42.

8. Pottier 38.

9. Melse and Wittenbeck 37 each.

11. Kamermans 16.

12. Bayer 14.

Contact:

Axel Seegers
+49 (0) 6142-6922501
[email protected]

Marcus Lacroix
+49 (0) 172-7404562
[email protected]

• Images