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• Season opener at the weekend: First race of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup as part of the ELE Rally around Eindhoven
• More rally action, less CO₂: New mobile charging infrastructure in use for the first time
• Even more international: 16 teams with top talents from all over Europe 

Combined values for Opel Mokka GSE according to WLTP¹: Energy consumption 18.5 kWh/100 km, CO₂ emissions 0 g/km; CO₂ label: A.

The ELE Rally in the Netherlands will mark the beginning of a new chapter for the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026. After five years with the Corsa Rally Electric, the teams will now use the Opel Mokka GSE Rally in the world’s first electric rally one-make cup. The performance data of the new electric customer sports car speaks for itself: an output of up to 207 kW (281 hp) and impressive torque of 345 Newton metres represent performance on a par with a Rally4 car.

A new charging infrastructure ensures even more climate-friendliness and range. Instead of the stationary charging stations in the service park, battery-electric charging trucks are used. These supply the rally cars with energy at various locations during the ongoing competition and thus allow more competition kilometres.

ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026 teams: More international and stronger than ever

This season, the drivers come from nine nations. For the first time, Ioan Lloyd and Valentino Ledda, two top talents from Wales and Italy, will be taking part. Other hot contenders for the title are undoubtedly Alex Español (Spain) and Fabian Kamermans (Netherlands), who already have Rally Cup experience, as well as the rookies Dante Johansson from Sweden and Tom Dufour from France. Elsewhere, Dutchman Max van Empel and Austrians Christian Luif and Lukas Wilhelm will also make their electric rallying debut.

The German delegation also has high hopes for the new season. With Timo Schulz, 2022 ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup champion, and Claire Schönborn, two of this year’s Opel factory juniors will compete both in the Junior European Championship (JERC) and in the Electric Rally Cup. In addition, young talents Luka Wlömer and Lars Stütz hope to impress in their first Cup season. The second woman in the field next to Claire Schönborn is the Belgian Thyrsa Eertmans. In addition, Ireland’s Aoife Raftery will return to the Cup at four events.

Eleven drivers will fight for victory in the Junior classification, which is reserved for drivers up to the age of 25 and can lead to a possible promotion to the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team in 2027. Three of the regular drivers – Christian Luif, Timo Schulz and Claire Schönborn – have exceeded this age limit and are vying for the title in the ‘GSE Masters’ classification, with the winner driving home a new production Opel Mokka GSE, which brings the rally feeling to the road.

“The attractive calendar with highlights such as the Rally Sanremo and the international field of participants set standards in electric rallying, as does the new Mokka GSE Rally and the innovative charging infrastructure,” said Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott. “I am sure that we can look forward to an exciting season thanks to the overall quality of the field. I’m curious to see how Ioan Lloyd, who we know from the JERC as a super-fast junior, will do against experienced Cup veterans such as Alex Español or Timo Schulz. In addition, there are some young drivers who may not yet have the international reputation, but are guaranteed to have the necessary drive to cause a sensation in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup. I’m really looking forward to the start of the season."

The ELE Rally traditionally has a somewhat unusual schedule. The start will take place on Friday at 18:43 CEST and will not end until shortly before midnight. The race will continue on Saturday from 12:38 CEST, and the finish line will be reached at around 23:00 CEST. The participants will cover a total distance of 131 kilometres and twelve special stages.

List of participants ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026

e01 – Alex Español (E) – Enrique Velasco (E)
e02 – Timo Schulz (D) – Maresa Lade (D)
e03 – Fabian Kamermans (NL) – Stefan Müller (NL)
e04 – Valentino Ledda (I) – Claudio Mele (I)
e05 – Lars Stütz (D) – Jana Schreiber (D)
e06 – Tom Dufour (F) – Alex Dubois (F)
e07 – Max van Empel (NL) – Eddy Smeets (B)
e08 – Dante Johansson (S) – Theo Bergsten (S)
e09 – Lukas Wilhelm (A) – Christina Ettel (A)
e10 – Christian Luif (A) – Nadine Kellner (A)
e11 – Claire Schönborn (D) – Michael Wenzel (D)
e12 – Thyrsa Eertmans (B) – Els Ons (B)
e13 – Johannes Wittenbeck (D)* – Maximilian Kugler (D)
e14 – Luka Wlömer (D) – Phillip Schmidt (D)
e15 – Timo van der Marel (NL)* – Erwin Berkhof (NL)
e17 – Ioan Lloyd (UK) – Sion Williams (UK)

* Guest driver at the ELE Rally

29./30.05. ELE Rally, Eindhoven NL
13./14.06. Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, Gérardmer F
17./18.07. Rallye Weiz A
14./15.08. ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, St. Wendel (DRM) D
25./26.09. ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg, Lübbecke (DRM) D
17./18.10. Rallye Sanremo I
28./29.11. Rallye Spa B 

^[1] A vehicle’s values not only depend on the vehicle’s efficient use of fuel, but are also influenced by driving behaviour and other non-technical factors.