Strong Line-up: 29 Opel ADAMs in Field at Deutschland Rallye

• Opel accounts for one-third of the field at German WRC event
• ADAC Rallye Deutschland is again the highlight of the rally season
• ADAC Opel Rallye Cup holds two rounds as the world’s rally elite watch

With the ADAC Rallye Deutschland from August 16 - 19 one of the most demanding and treacherous but also most beautiful asphalt competitions awaits the racing teams in the FIA World Rally Championship. Be it Thierry Neuville, Sébastien Ogier or Jari-Matti Latvala – even the top stars travel with a combination of anticipation and awe to the border region between Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate with the picturesquely located service park at Bostalsee as the event base. And as every year, tens of thousands of enthusiastic motorsport fans will line the 18 special stages.

Opel accounts for one-third of the field at the German round of the WRC. 29 of the 88 registered participants in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland drive an ADAM rally vehicle. 23 racers and their teams come from the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup and elicit cheers of admiration from enthusiasts for their top-notch driving finesse. Since 2013, the Cup has stood for rallying on a high level at favorable conditions. A total of six drivers (Marijan Griebel, Fabian Kreim, Emil Bergkvist, Julius Tannert, Jari Huttunen and Tom Kristensson) also made the leap from the Cup into the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team and the Opel ADAM R2, which is also making its mark in the FIA ERC Junior U27.

Opel’s ERC Junior record is impressive. Since the first full season in 2015, the brand with the Blitz has won three European Championship titles in a row. Together with around two dozen national championship titles so far, the ADAM R2 has thus established its status as the strongest vehicle in its class. This season the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team is again competing for the ERC crown with two of the 190 hp rally cars piloted by Tom Kristensson and 18-year-old Latvian Mārtiņš Sesks. After the mid-way point of the season, Sesks and Kristensson are in first and third place in the intermediate standings.

The ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team is in the field at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland with both cars. With high ambitions, because in the last four years, the victory in the RC4 class in the German round of the WRC has gone to an ADAM R2 pilot. Four other Opel ADAM cars will also compete in the RC4 group.

The Rallye Deutschland is a very special highlight for the young talents in the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup, who will compete in front of the world's rally elite for the sixth time. The numbers alone are formidable: at the German WRC event a total of 326.7 special stage kilometres have to be completed, almost three times as many as in one round of the German Rally Championship. And these include the legendary 38.5 kilometre-long “Panzerplatte” that must be driven twice and stirs up both ambition and awe among the Cup talents.

Participation in a WRC event is time-consuming and strenuous. Participants will cover more than 1,000 kilometres during the four days of the rally, and at least six days are to be scheduled for training and the event. This effort is doubly worthwhile for the young teams, as the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup consists of two rounds within the German WRC event. The first comprises seven special stages over 103 kilometres between Thursday and Friday evening, and the second 11 special stages from Saturday morning to midday Sunday cover 223 kilometres. This means the teams have double the chance to collect points and double the chance to win prize money. And this is ample in the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup – a good €100,000 will be awarded during the season.