1st victory of the Opel ADAC R2 in Liepaja

Press release

08.02.2015 - No. 2
 
ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team gewinnt den EM-Auftakt

• Swede Emil Bergkvist wins Rallye Liepāja in Opel ADAM R2
• Sensational performance under adverse conditions and against toughest competition
• Marijan Griebel retires in second Opel ADAM R2 after accident

Rüsselsheim/Munich.  Sensational start of the season for the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team! At their first appearance as Opel works drivers, Emil Bergkvist (20, Torsåker) and co-driver Joakim Sjöberg (29, Ösmo) won the first round of the European Junior Rally Championship (FIA ERC Junior), Rallye Liepāja in Latvia, in the Opel ADAM R2. After eleven extremely demanding special stages, the two Swedes won a good half-minute ahead of Norwegian Steve Rokland and Latvian Ralfs Sirmacis (both Peugeot 208 R2), thereby taking over the lead in the overall classification of the FIA ERC Junior. In addition, in their front-wheel drive vehicle with “only” 190 hp amongst all their competitors with considerably more powerful and four-wheel drive vehicles, last year’s winners of the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup also achieved an impressive sixth place in the overall classification.

 
With three consecutive fastest special stage times, Bergkvist/Sjöberg left a clear mark right at the beginning of the first rally day and laid the foundation for their triumph, which hardly any of the experts would have anticipated to that extent. “I am simply speechless,” exulted Bergkvist. “We knew of course how fantastic our Opel ADAC R2 rally car is and we started this rally with a lot of confidence in our own driving skills. But we were also aware that the competition in the FIA ERC Junior would be very tough. The level of performance here is really outstanding. And the external conditions were extremely difficult – they changed between snow, rain, fog, rain-sodden gravel, wet snow and black ice. So you can imagine that I am absolutely happy that Joke and I have managed to bring the car to the finish without having made any major mistakes. A big thank you again to the whole team that has done a perfect job in the rally preparation and during the event itself. I can hardly wait for my next starts in the ADAM R2!”
 
Marijan Griebel (25, Hahnweiler) and his new co-driver Stefan Clemens (28, Weiskirchen) in the second works ADAM R2 in contrast had an unfortunate end of their rally in Latvia. The driver duo had found a good rhythm when the sudden end came in the fourth special stage, which they had started in ninth place, after night had already fallen over the Latvian Baltic Sea coast. “Small mistake, big consequence,” said Griebel. “As long as I was driving on the racing line, the grip was good with the studded tires. But just a few centimetres off this line, traction was completely gone. And that is exactly what happened to us in a fast right corner. We went too far to the outside and into the ditch, which in principle wouldn’t have been a problem yet. Unfortunately we hit a crossroad head-on, the car took off and rolled over.”

As the accident happened about one hundred kilometres from Liepāja, it took hours before the damaged ADAM R2 made it back to the service area late in the evening. The team around Opel Motorsport Technical Director Dietmar Metrich then decided to refrain from an attempt to repair the vehicle on site.
 
The two Opel customer teams, too, became victims of the extremely challenging conditions prevailing during the start of the European Championship. Pole Aleks Zawada and his French co-driver Cathy Derousseaux had just set their first fastest time in special stage six when they went off into a ditch in the next stage and had to withdraw from the rally. Bad luck also for German Julius Tannert and his Luxembourgian co-driver Jennifer Thielen, competing for ADAC Sachsen, when they lost a wheel on their ADAM R2 in the second special stage without the involvement of any external force. In order to complete further test kilometres on gravel and snow, Tannert and Thielen rejoined the rally on the second day and at least made it to the finish in Liepāja.
 
The next event for the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team will be on March 6-7 at the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye. The asphalt event around St. Wendel, which is also where the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup season starts, shall provide another test opportunity for Griebel and Bergkvist for their preparation to the second ERC Junior round taking place in Ireland on April 2-4.

Contacts: