ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup: Hot Battle for the Top Spot in the Standings

• A bid for the overall lead: Timo Schulz wins the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg
• Change in the Cup’s provisional standings: Ioan Lloyd replaces Tom Dufour as leader
• Strong performances from Spain’s Alex Español and Italy‘s Valentino Ledda

Timo Schulz dominated the ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg: the German and his co-driver Maresa Lade kept their rivals at bay in their all-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally and celebrated their third victory of the season at the fourth round of the 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup at the weekend. After 14 special stages covering 141.8 kilometres – thanks to ‘remote charging’ – the electric cars, with power outputs of up to 207 kW (281 hp), once again covered the entire distance of the rally – Schulz and Lade finished 1 minute and 18 seconds ahead of the runners-up, setting the fastest time on no fewer than ten occasions.

Despite his outage at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, the 27-year-old – who also heads into the final round of the Junior European Rally Championship (JERC) in Portugal at the end of October as the leader – moved up to second place, now just seven points behind the leader. “It really went like clockwork,” said a delighted Schulz. “We were able to pull away early on and manage our lead thereafter. Here, unlike in the JERC, it’s not a seven-point lead but a seven-point deficit in the standings – but there are still three rounds to go in the Cup. It’s incredibly close, and everything is still up for grabs.”

The new leader in the world’s first electric rally one-make cup is Ioan Lloyd, who finished third to secure his fourth podium finish of the season. “Today was a real rollercoaster ride,” Lloyd summed up afterwards. “We got off to a good start and were in second place behind Timo and Maresa, who were once again incredibly strong. Then came a spin and rear-axle damage, which set us back to fifth place. I’m really pleased that we still managed to make it onto the podium and pick up the points for second place in the Power Stage. The battle against Timo and Tom is incredibly close – that’s exactly what makes the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup so special.”

Tom Dufour was hit much harder than Lloyd. The Frenchman, who had travelled to North Rhine-Westphalia as the championship leader, was in second place when he lost his left front wheel during a run-off in the fourth special stage, after which the stage had to be neutralised. Although Dufour and his co-driver Alex Dubois were able to restart on Saturday, they were no longer in contention for the top positions due to the ten-minute time penalty for failing to complete the special stage. Dufour slipped to third place in the standings, but still has every chance in the remaining three rounds of the season. After four of seven rounds, just ten points separate the top three.

Meanwhile, Alex Español and Valentino Ledda delivered their strongest performance of the season. Last year’s Cup runner-up from Spain and his co-driver Enrique Velasco finished second. Ledda, who has often been dogged by bad luck this year, also impressively demonstrated his pace. With his new co-driver Lorenzo Fratta, the Italian was on course for a podium finish until shortly before the end, but passed a time control too late before special stage 13. The ten-second penalty and a mistake in the final stage saw him drop back behind the Swedish team Dante Johansson and Tom Törngren to fifth place overall.

Once again, the two women in the field put in fine performances. Claire Schönborn made another decisive improvement on Saturday and finished the rally – the very one where she had begun her rallying career with Opel just two years ago – in sixth place overall. Among other things, the 27-year-old shone by setting the second-fastest time in special stage 12. The Belgian Thyrsa Eertmans followed immediately behind the German in seventh place.

The fifth round of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup will take place from October 16 to 18 as part of the legendary Sanremo Rally in Italy.

ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup standings (after 4 of 7 races)

1. Lloyd 111 points

2. Schulz 104

3. Dufour 101

4. Johansson 70

5. Schönborn 62

6. Español 55

7. Eertmans 44

8. Kamermans 35

9. Wlömer 20

10. Ledda 16

11. Wilhelm 16

12. Stütz 14

13. Luif 13