• Springboard for talents: Opel Motorsport has a long tradition of promoting young rally drivers
• Electrifying prospects: ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup offers unique opportunities for advancement
• System of success: Six Junior European Championship titles prove the effectiveness of the promotion pyramid

Opel Motorsport has always stood for outstanding achievements in both top-level and grassroots motorsport. Elsewhere, promoting young talents is also a fundamental and successful part of the motorsport activities of the brand with the Blitz. While its earlier involvement in Formula Opel and Formula 3 was in circuit racing, the Rüsselsheim-based brand has been a benchmark for effective youth development in rallying since 2013.

With the ADAC Opel Rally Cup, which was replaced by the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup in 2021 and will continue this season as the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup with the new Opel Mokka GSE Rally, as well as with the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team, the strong partners Opel and ADAC have created a unique support pyramid that will be further expanded in the future.

Formula for success: From electric one-make cup to Junior European Championship

The principle is as simple as it is effective: the champions of the all-electric one-make cup automatically join the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team, where they get the chance to compete in the Junior European Rally Championship (JERC). This unique development platform is a success story: Emil Bergkvist (2015), Marijan Griebel (2016), Chris Ingram (2017), Martins Sesks (2018), Laurent Pellier (2022) and Calle Carlberg (2025) have won six Junior European Championship titles in nine seasons for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team – up to 2019 with the Opel ADAM R2, and from 2022 with the Opel Corsa Rally4.

Furthermore, former Opel junior drivers have won titles in the Junior World Championship (Emil Bergkvist, Tom Kristensson), the European Rally Championship (Chris Ingram, Marijan Griebel) and the German Rally Championship DRM (Fabian Kreim, Marijan Griebel). A glance at the list of participants in the DRM races also reveals a number of drivers and co-drivers who cut their teeth in the ADAC Opel Rally Cup or the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup. Julius Tannert, Björn Satorius, Patrick Pusch and Dominik Dinkel are outstanding examples, alongside multiple champions Griebel and Kreim.

The partners remain committed to Opel’s successful system for promoting young talents. In the coming season, the champion of the 2025 ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, young Belgian Tom Heindrichs, will attempt to follow in the footsteps of his successful predecessors in the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team. And the new ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup will also offer young talents a perfect platform to prove themselves at the highest level for international rallying.

ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026: More powerful, more exciting, more international

The ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026 promises the same high standard of driving skills as ever. With Germany’s Timo Schulz, champion of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup 2022, and Britain’s Ioan Lloyd, two drivers with JERC experience are already confirmed in the electrifying field of participants. Other top drivers from all over Europe will be challenging them.

The new competition vehicle will further enhance the appeal of the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup: with up to 207 kW (281 hp), torque of 345 Newton metres and state-of-the-art racing technology, the battery-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally promises Rally4-level performance. The powerful electric car is available to order now at a price of €67,900 (plus VAT). The corresponding order form is available for download here.

The ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup 2026 season kicks off on May 29/30 with the ELE Rally in the Netherlands. A total of seven rounds in six European countries (Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy) are on the schedule. One of the highlights of the season is the participation of the world’s first all-electric rally one-make cup in the traditional Rally Sanremo in October.

2026 Schedule ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup

May 29/30 ELE Rally, Eindhoven NL

June 13/14 Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, Gérardmer F

July 17/18 Rallye Weiz A

Aug 14/15 ADAC Saarland-Palatinate Rally, St. Wendel (DRM) D

Sept 25/26 ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg, Lübbecke (DRM) D

Oct 17/18 Rally Sanremo I

Nov 28/29 Rallye Spa B