- Guest victory: Guest driver Jérôme Chavanne wins Rally Mont-Blanc Morzine
- Fifth in France: Luca Pröglhöf is still favourite to take title with a lead of 41 points
- Pure excitement: Two races of the current Cup season still outstanding
Luca Pröglhöf remains the favourite to win the title in this year’s ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” despite on finishing fifth over the weekend. Due to technical problems, Pröglhöf and his co-driver Christina Ettel were unable to challenge for the podium at the Mont-Blanc Morzine Rally. But with a 41-point lead in the overall standings over his direct Cup competitors Anthony and Adrien Rott, 25-year-old Austrian Pröglhöf is still in a commanding position. Theoretically, he can win the 2024 title at the next race with his 100 kW (136 hp) Opel Corsa Rally Electric. The French Rott brothers came third at the foot of Mont Blanc.
The victory at the weekend was celebrated by guest drivers Jérôme Chavanne and Emilie Galleano, who made full use of their knowledge of the route and, after a hard fight, beat Christian Lemke and Jan-Eric Bemmann by just 0.6 seconds in the last special stage. However, since Chavanne/Galleano were neither entitled to points nor prize money, the duo Lemke/Bemmann scored the full 30 points for their second triumph of the season. “It was a fantastic rally, great stages, a wonderful backdrop,” said 24-year-old Lemke. “We had a really great flow at times, which was incredibly fun. Unfortunately, a puncture in the last stage cost us victory, which was obviously frustrating. On the other hand, we took full points for the cup standings, so everything is on track.”
From the start there was an exciting battle at the top. The Spaniards Alex Español Jove/Daniel Rivera De La Red initially took the lead until they damaged their car and lost around two minutes. After Pröglhöf also lost time one stage later, Christian Lemke took the lead at the end of the first stage. After two best times in a row, guest driver Chavanne moved to the front of the back on Saturday morning and never looked back. The Rott brothers received the points for second place, Español those for third place. “It was a great rally against this wonderful backdrop. But I’m not entirely satisfied with my performance,” the Iberian admitted. “The mistake when we were in the lead robbed us of any chance of a top result. More would have been possible here.”
Due to his comfortable lead this year’s ADAC Opel Electric Cup, Pröglhöf, who placed fifth in Morzine, was not too disappointed: “It was a mixed rally. After a good start, we unfortunately lost a lot of time twice. With the best time and maximum points in the Power Stage, we limited the damage and are still on course for the championship.” Anthony Rott knows what a difficult task lies ahead of him if he wants to intercept Pröglhöf. “We’re not giving up, but it will be hard. At first, we had a bit of a hard time here, but we got better and better. It was a fantastic rally,” said Rott.
Dr Gerd Ennser also had an exciting guest appearance. The ADAC Sport President confidently drove the VIP Corsa Rally Electric alongside his son Fabian through the difficult mountain stretches and clearly enjoyed his rally debut: “Opel and ADAC are doing a brilliant job together. That’s exactly what I wanted to experience firsthand in the Opel Corsa Rally Electric – and I have to say: I’m thrilled! Being able to drive in a rally as great as this one at Mont Blanc is a lot of fun. I congratulate everyone involved and believe the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup has a great future.”
The seventh and penultimate round of this year’s ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” will take place at the Rallye Coeur de France around Vendôme in central France on 28/29. September.
Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 6 of 8 rounds:
1. Pröglhöf 189 points.
2. Rott 148 pts.
3. Español 122 pts.
4. Lemke 103 pts.
5. Chalvin 80 pts.
6. Wittenbeck 70 pts.
7. Hangodi 64 pts.
8. Baudet 63 pts.
9. Pottier 48 pts.
10. Melse 37 pts.
11. Kamermans 33 pts.
12. Bayer 20 pts.
