Rallye Weiz: Opel Mokka GSE Rally Shakes up All-Wheel-Drive Field

• A first: The Opel electric rally cars have completed the full rally distance and finished in the top 15 of the overall classification
• Third round of 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup: Timo Schulz celebrates his second win of the season in Weiz, Austria
• Second place: Frenchman Tom Dufour takes the lead in the standings from Welshman Ioan Lloyd

The ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup set a new milestone in electric rallying at the 2026 Rallye Weiz. Thanks to the new, innovative ‘remote charging infrastructure’, enabling charging between special stages and outside the service park, the all-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally cars contested the full special stage distance for the first time. And what experts had predicted came to pass: the young Cup talents, competing in their brand-championship rally cars delivering up to 207 kW (281 hp), were right up there among the frontrunners in the overall classification. In the final stretch, Timo Schulz guided his Mokka GSE Rally to an impressive 13^th place overall amongst the all-wheel-drive opposition.

“We were particularly looking forward to the Rallye Weiz,” said Jörg Schrott, Head of Opel Motorsport. “For the first time, we were able to complete the full distance of a rally’s special stages and showcase the outstanding performance of our Opel Mokka GSE Rally in the overall rally classification. This marks another important step for us in electric rallying.”

With his second win of the season, Schulz – as always, navigated by co-driver Maresa Lade – reduced his deficit in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup standings to the new leader, Tom Dufour, to 19 points. Having finished the first leg on Friday evening just 0.5 seconds ahead of Dufour, the German laid the foundations for victory the following morning in special stage 4 with an outstanding fastest time thanks to a clever tyre choice. Schulz then confidently managed his advantage of around 30 seconds over the Frenchman; he was the fastest in five of the eleven special stages. “It was really cool to be able to compete against the rest of the field in the rally,” said the winner. “We’ve shown what the Mokka GSE Rally is capable of and that its electric performance is on a par with Rally4. We’ll be able to demonstrate that even more often in future. Our rally went almost perfectly. Setting the fastest time in special stage 4 gave us a bit of breathing space and allowed us to take on the rest of the day a bit more relaxed. We didn’t let up and were able to hold on to our lead. It could hardly have gone better.”

His third consecutive second-place finish saw Dufour take the lead in the 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup. The young Frenchman was understandably pleased: “We’re happy with our performance over the weekend – apart from the wrong tyre choice this morning, which left us with a significant gap to Timo,” said the Frenchman, who set the fastest time in four special stages alongside his co-driver Alex Dubois. “It was an extremely demanding rally, with grip conditions changing constantly. We’re happy with our result, and of course we’re delighted to take the lead in the classification as well.”

The battle for third place on the podium was only decided in the final ‘power stage’. Starting the last 12.8 kilometres of the rally 5.7 seconds behind, Luca Pröglhöf edged out Ioan Lloyd – who had travelled to Weiz as the championship leader – by eight tenths of a second just before the finish line. Although, as a guest driver, he received neither points nor prize money, the 2024 ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup champion was satisfied with his performance: “We knew that the other teams had two rallies more experience behind them and that I’d need a bit of time to get used to the car,” said the Austrian, with Christina Ettel alongside him in the co-driver’s seat of the Mokka GSE Rally during his one-off Cup comeback. “I’m absolutely delighted to be on the podium here in Austria. It was great fun to be back competing in the Cup again.”

Lloyd, as always with Sion Williams by his side, was only mildly disappointed at having lost the lead in the overall classification: “I think it was a challenging rally for all of us,” said the winner of the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est in France, who now lies three points behind Dufour in the standings. “The grip conditions here in Austria are very particular. We’ve learnt a great deal. On the whole, we’re happy with our pace, even though we had a minor technical issue on Saturday afternoon. That may have cost us a point or two in the power stage. But even so, we’re still satisfied with the points for third place.”

For their fourth showdown of the season, the fast all-electric rally cars will compete as part of the German Rally Championship for the first time: the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, taking place around Illingen, is scheduled for August 14 and 15.

Standing ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup (after 3 of 7 rounds)

1. Dufour 88 points

2. Lloyd 85

3. Schulz 69

4. Johansson 48

5. Schönborn 45

6. Kamermans 35

7. Eertmans 32

8. Español 28

9. Wlömer 20

10. Wilhelm 16

11. Stütz 14

12. Luif 13

13. Wittenbeck 12

14. van Empel 10

15. Ledda 8