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• Uncatchable: Austrian Luca Pröglhof seals title with one race left
• First win of the season: Spaniard Alex Español leads the way over the weekend

Luca Pröglhöf left nothing to be desired at the Rallye Coeur de France and secured the title in the world’s first electric rally one-make cup in the penultimate race of the season. Second place was enough at the asphalt event around Vendôme behind the strong Spaniards Alex Español/Daniel Rivera de la Red, who celebrated their first victory in the 100 kW (136 hp) Opel Corsa Rally Electric, for the 25-year-old Austrian and his co-driver Christina Ettel. Fourth place behind the guest drivers Arthur Roché/Quentin Proust was not enough for the brothers Anthony and Adrien Rott to challenge Pröglhöf for the title in the finale in three weeks at the Central European Rally.

“It was one of the most challenging rallies I have ever driven because risk minimisation was our priority. Our plan worked completely, we drove through it cleanly, made no mistakes and had no problems. Now we are overjoyed and a little speechless. The fact that we were able to secure the title here is brilliant. Now we have no pressure in the final race of the season and can enjoy the World Championship race. Now it’s time to celebrate,” said a delighted Pröglhöf.

Race winner Español delivered a strong performance in the “Heart of France” (Coeur de France), set the best time in six of the eight special stages and ultimately had a lead of 33.6 seconds over Pröglhöf. “We immediately found a good rhythm and were able to complete the rally without any problems. I’m really happy with the win. We were close to it in previous rallies – it’s even nicer that it worked out now," said the Opel Spain driver.

Anthony Rott was in third place until the final Power Stage, but had to give way to guest driver Roché. After all, the Alsatian not only received the full points for third place, but also the five bonus points that could be won in the Power Stage. With a deficit of 42 points he can now longer catch Pröglhöf, but the runner-up position is within reach: “We congratulate Luca and Dina, who were the best throughout the season and absolutely deserve the title. We can also be very satisfied with our own performance. It’s a shame that the podium place was snatched away from us in the last stage. But it was a good rally and now we want to try to secure second place overall.”

With fifth place and the points for fourth place, Alizée Pottier and Manon Perrin from the FFSA Academy team achieved their best result of the season. “It was a great rally. We had a lot of fun on the demanding special stages here. And the fact that it worked so well at my home rally is of course particularly nice,” said the 23-year-old from Le Mans, just 75 kilometres from Vendôme.

Jörg Schrott, head of Opel Motorsport, was one of the first to congratulate the new champions: “Luca and Dina have continuously improved their performance since joining the Cup. This year, they clearly set the bar as a team and truly deserved to win the title.”

The final of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” will take place on the 19th/20th October at the Central European Rally. The round of the World Rally Championship will be held under the auspices of the ADAC for the second time.

Standings ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup “powered by GSe” after 7 of 8 rounds:

1. Pröglhöf                 217 points.

2. Rott                         175 pts

3. Español                  156 pts

4. Lemke                    115 pts

5. Chalvin                   94 pts

6. Wittenbeck            91 pts

7. Pottier                    70 pts

8. Hangodi                 66 pts

9. Baudet                   65 pts

10. Melse                   37 pts

11. Kamermans        33 pts

12. Den Hartigh        24 pts

13. Bayer                   20 pts

14. Felke                    13 pts