All-electric ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup makes its Italian debut at the 73rd Sanremo Rally
Opel's all-electric one-make rally cup heads to the Italian Riviera for its first event on Italian soil, at the 73rd Sanremo Rally from October 16 to 18.
- 7 points
- 207 kW (281 hp)
- 8 special stages / 113 km
- 14
What Happened
The ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup is setting up in Italy for the first time, making its local debut at the Sanremo Rally on the Italian Riviera from October 16 to 18. The event is the 73rd edition of the Sanremo Rally, and the appearance of the all-electric one-make cup marks the first time an electric rally one-make cup has competed on Italian soil. Fourteen teams will field battery-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally cars, which deliver up to 207 kW (281 hp). The round is the fifth of seven in the 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup season.
The Sanremo Rally is held for the first time.
Antonio 'Tony' Fassina finishes third in an Opel Ascona 400 at the Sanremo Rally.
Future world champion Walter Röhrl finishes third in an Opel Ascona 400 at the Sanremo Rally.
The Sanremo Rally is part of the World Rally Championship.
The ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup makes its Italian debut at the 73rd Sanremo Rally.
“Italy is a country brimming with passion for rallying and steeped in history. The Sanremo Rally holds enormous historical significance for Opel and our golden years of rallying. The fact that we are now launching the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup here for the first time and flying the flag for electric rallying underlines the international significance of our one-make cup. At the same time, the Rally Sanremo, with its challenging tarmac stages, provides the perfect stage to demonstrate the performance and dynamism of our Opel Mokka GSE Rally against a fantastic backdrop.”
The route is unlike anything else on the varied 2026 calendar: eight special stages covering 113 kilometres on tricky, narrow mountain roads in the Sanremo hinterland. Average speeds are comparatively low, so the highest level of precision is required and even the smallest mistake could prove to be one too many. The event runs over three days around 50 kilometres east of Monaco, starting on Friday, October 16, at 12.05 CEST, with the finish in Sanremo expected around 17.30 CEST on Sunday. Rally fans can follow the action on the Italian Riviera via live timing on the ADAC motorsport website and on the Opel Motorsport Instagram channel.
A flawless performance will be crucial in the fifth of seven rounds, not least for the three top title contenders. Welshman Ioan Lloyd, with co-driver Sion Williams, leads the standings, seven points ahead of Timo Schulz, who has won three of the first four rounds but also suffered a retirement at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est and is partnered by co-driver Maresa Lade. Just three points behind the German are Tom Dufour and Alex Dubois, a French duo who have already stood on the podium three times this season. In Italy, Valentino Ledda is the one to watch: the 19-year-old from Sardinia drives for Opel Italia, can treat Sanremo as a home race, showed strong pace most recently at Stemwede, and is targeting a podium like last year's runner-up in the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, Alex Español, who climbed onto the podium for the first time this season in northern Germany.
- 111 points — leader
- 104 points — 7 behind Lloyd
- 101 points — 3 behind Schulz
- Ioan Lloyd (GB) — 111 points
- Timo Schulz (D) — 104
- Tom Dufour (F) — 101
- Dante Johansson (S) — 70
- Claire Schönborn (D) — 62
- Alex Español (E) — 55; Thyrsa Eertmans (B) — 44; Fabian Kamermans (NL) — 35; Valentino Ledda (I) — 24; Luka Wlömer (D) — 20
Previously from Opel Automobile GmbH
Opel has been presenting its GSE performance line-up in the same week: at the Paris Motor Show it staged two world premieres, the STX Concept design study and the GSE 27FE, its Formula E GEN4 race car, alongside the new Corsa GSE and Astra GSE Line. Our earlier coverage described the Paris line-up as a GSE range topped by the over-800-hp GSE 27FE Formula E car.
- Opel takes STX Concept and GSE 27FE Formula E car to Paris for world premieres
- Opel's Paris Motor Show line-up: STX Concept estate and GSE performance range
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Opel Automobile GmbH's official releases.
Why this matters
The Sanremo Rally is one of rallying's most historic events, and it is hosting an electric rally one-make cup on Italian soil for the first time, giving the battery-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally a high-profile showcase in a country passionate about the sport. The 14 competing teams and the drivers fighting for the title are the ones directly affected, with just seven points separating the top two after four rounds.
Terms in This Story
- one-make cup
- A racing or rally series in which every competitor drives the same model of car, so results depend mainly on the drivers, co-drivers and teams rather than on different machinery.
- special stage
- A timed section of a rally run on roads closed to public traffic, where crews race against the clock rather than wheel to wheel.
- kW
- Kilowatt, a metric unit of power; it is commonly quoted alongside horsepower (hp) in vehicle specifications.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.