Five points cover Opel GSE Rally Cup top three ahead of Saarland-Palatinate finale
Timo Schulz leads the all-electric ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup by three points from Ioan Lloyd, with Tom Dufour a further two back, as the series heads into its sixth of seven rounds.
- 5 points
- 70
- up to 207 kW (281 hp)
- 154 km over 14 special stages
What Happened
The 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup is heading into its season finale with just five points separating the top three drivers ahead of the sixth of seven rounds, run as part of the ADAC Saarland-Palatinate Rally on 30 and 31 October, with 70 points still up for grabs. The Opel Mokka GSE Rally, producing up to 207 kW (281 hp), will tackle all 14 special stages totalling 154 kilometres in the border region between Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, and will feature in the rally's overall standings. Opel says this is made possible by a new mobile charging infrastructure that enables so-called remote charging outside the service park between special stages. The same approach was used at the previous Cup rounds in Weiz and Stemwede.
5points
Timo Schulz leads Ioan Lloyd by three points and Tom Dufour by five, with 70 points still available this season.
“Our remote charging system is a real game-changer for electric motorsport. We are impressively demonstrating the Opel Mokka GSE Rally's huge potential over the full special stage distance and can enable our teams to cover even more competitive kilometres. I also expect that, at the ADAC Saarland-Palatinate Rally, our best car will ultimately finish amongst the Rally4 entries. In sporting terms, the current season is surpassing all previous ones. The top three are separated by just five points – anything is possible. It's going to be incredibly exciting.”
Timo Schulz took his fourth win of the season at the historic Rally Sanremo in Italy to lead the standings, and with co-driver Maresa Lade he heads into his home event with a razor-thin three-point advantage. Welshman Ioan Lloyd and co-driver Sion Williams, winners of the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, lie second. Tom Dufour sits directly behind them, having finished second for the fourth time alongside Alex Dubois in the hot seat of the Mokka GSE Rally in Sanremo, and is keen to secure his first victory in what Opel calls the world's only international electric rally one-make cup.
- 1. Timo Schulz (D) – 136 points
- 2. Ioan Lloyd (GB) – 133
- 3. Tom Dufour (F) – 131
- 4. Alex Español (E) – 81
- 5. Claire Schönborn (D) – 76
- 6. Dante Johansson (S) – 70
It is mathematically possible, but unlikely, that the title could be decided early at the ADAC Saarland-Palatinate Rally: Schulz would need a lead of at least 35 points at the finish, which would require Lloyd and Dufour to retire. Purely mathematically, the top six drivers in the provisional standings still have a chance of claiming the 2026 crown. Strong guest drivers are adding to the line-up of regular crews from nine nations, among them last year's ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup champions, the Belgians Tom Heindrichs and Jonas Schmitz, making an electrifying comeback. Live timing is available from the ADAC.
The sixth round of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup gets underway.
The cars roll into the parc fermé after six special stages.
The action continues after a short night's rest.
The final Power Stage, special stage 14, decides the outcome.
Previously from Opel Automobile GmbH
Timo Schulz, who leads the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup standings into this weekend's round, sealed the 2026 European Junior Rally Championship with Opel at the Portuguese season finale, taking second place in an all-Opel title duel with team-mate Tom Heindrichs. That title was decided just days before the penultimate Cup round.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Opel Automobile GmbH's official releases.
Why this matters
Opel presents the cup as proof that an electric rally car can cover a full rally distance, thanks to remote charging between special stages — a working test case for electric motorsport. The series also bills itself as a global talent factory: its regular crews come from nine nations, and the top six drivers can still mathematically win the 2026 title.
Terms in This Story
- One-make cup
- A racing series in which every competitor drives the same model of car, so results depend mainly on driving skill and car set-up rather than on different machinery.
- Special stage
- A closed-road section of a rally run against the clock, with crews racing flat out and their times added together.
- Remote charging
- Charging of the electric rally cars away from the central service park, carried out between special stages so the cars can keep running.
- Parc fermé
- A secure, sealed area where rally cars must be parked between sections so that teams cannot work on them.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.