Timo Schulz Beats International Competition in 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup Opener

• Successful start to the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup at the ELE Rally in the Netherlands
• Germany’s Timo Schulz celebrates his second consecutive rally victory in the Mokka GSE Rally
• Frenchman Tom Dufour and Welshman Ioan Lloyd finish on the podium at electric debut

16 ambitious teams from nine nations, a high-performance new competition car with the Opel Mokka GSE Rally, an innovative, completely sustainable charging infrastructure and exciting battles for every tenth of a second – the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup celebrated a successful debut at the ELE Rally in the Netherlands. After eleven demanding special stages around Eindhoven, German Timo Schulz celebrated an ultimately commanding victory ahead of Frenchman Tom Dufour and Welshman Ioan Lloyd. With an output of up to 207 kW (281 hp) and torque of 345 Newton metres, the new Mokka GSE Rally is more than twice as powerful as its predecessor.

For Schulz and his co-driver Maresa Lade, it was the second triumph within six days: On the previous weekend, the 26-year-old had already won the opening round of the Junior European Rally Championship in Sweden for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team. “Winning on two consecutive weekends is of course super cool,” said the 2022 Electric Cup champion, who set the best time in four special stages. “We approached the rally rather cautiously, but quickly found a good rhythm and felt very comfortable in the car. The Mokka GSE Rally is really fun with its enormous electric power. We are looking forward to the next rallies.”

Even though Schulz was able to build up a small cushion over the course of the rally, he always felt the pressure of his pursuers. For example, on the part of the French crew Tom Dufour/Alex Dubois, who improved strongly over the course of the rally and were the fastest in the penultimate stage: “It was an incredible rally that we enjoyed very much,” said Dufour. “Thanks to Opel France, Stellantis Motorsport and Jean-Luc Debove for making this possible for us. We couldn’t test before the rally, so we didn’t know what to expect. That’s why we started slowly, built up confidence in the car step by step and gradually found speed. The fact that it was enough for second place right away is of course fantastic.”

Ioan Lloyd and Sion Williams completed the podium in the Mokka GSE Rally of Vauxhall UK. The British team started in a controlled manner on the first day, then picked up the pace on Saturday and set their first best time in SS11. “It’s fantastic to get Vauxhall on the podium here at the first attempt. The level in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup is extremely high, it is incredibly close. The Mokka GSE Rally is a completely new experience for us. It almost felt like going back to school – but in a positive way. The car is completely different from what we were used to, but fantastic to drive. We’ve learned a lot and hopefully we’ll be able to put that into practice at the next rallies,” said Lloyd.

Elsewhere, the Italians Valentino Ledda/Claudio Mele, who looked on course for a podium after setting the pace in SS2 and SS8, had to give up on Saturday afternoon due to technical problems. "That’s rallying," commented Ledda. "Until then, it had gone very well. The Mokka GSE Rally is really fast and a lot of fun. We felt at home in the Cup right away and are looking forward to the other events." Local driver Max van Empel and his Belgian co-driver Eddy Smeets also suffered some bad luck. Lying in second place after two best times in the special stages, a high kerb damaged the suspension of the Mokka GSE Rally and put an end to van Empel’s home rally in the penultimate special stage.

"“With the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup, we have opened a new chapter in electric rallying,” said Jörg Schrott, Head of Opel Motorsport. “We saw an exciting rally in which the leading group was reshuffled from stage to stage. The Mokka GSE Rally has impressively proven what a strong performance it has. We were clearly faster than the best Rally4 car in every special stage. At the same time, we learned an enormous amount about cars and our new charging infrastructure over the weekend. We were able to significantly increase the range of our vehicles through our remote charging between the special stages. Now we have to fine-tune some things, and we started to do that immediately after the finish because the next rally is already just around the corner.”

The second round of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup will take place the weekend after next (13/14 June) as part of the Rally Vosges Grand-Est around Gérardmer.

Results ELE Rally Eindhoven/NL

1. Timo Schulz/Maresa Lade (D)                          1:20:12.2 h
2. Tom Dufour/Alex Dubois (F)                            +31.8 sec
3. Ioan Lloyd/Sion Williams (GB)                         +46.3 sec
4. Fabian Kamermans/Stefan Müller (NL)             +1:12.4 min
5. Alex Español/Enrique Velasco (E)                     +1:22.1 min
6. Lars Stütz/Jana Schreiber (D)                          +1:25.8 min
7. Johannes Wittenbeck/Maximilian Kugler (D)      +2:03.2 min
8. Dante Johansson/Theo Bergsten (S)                 +2:31.4 min
9. Thyrsa Eertmans/Els Ons (B)                           +4:12.9 min
10. Luka Wlömer/Philipp Schmidt (D)                   +5:25.3 min

Standings ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup (after 1 of 7 rounds)

1. Schulz            35 points
2. Dufour            28
3. Lloyd              26
4. Kamermans    21
5. Español          16
6. Stütz              14
7. Wittenbeck     12
8. Johansson       11
9. Eertmans        8
10. Wlömer         6
11. Luif               5
12. Schönborn     4