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Lundberg, Munster join ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team for ERC, Opel confirms Corsa R2 project

The ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team will continue to provide the ultimate benchmark in the FIA European Rally Championship’s ERC3 Junior division as it chases a fifth consecutive ERC Junior crown in 2019.

Run by Holzer Motorsport, the squad has claimed the Pirelli-supported ERC title for young talents in R2 machinery for the last four seasons, securing its breakthrough success with Emil Bergkvist in 2015 before going on to claim consecutive crowns with Marijan Griebel, Chris Ingram and, in 2018, Mārtiņš Sesks, who beat his then team-mate Tom Kristensson to honours. Jari Huttunen, Tamara Molinaro and Julius Tannert are also former team members. All eight have subsequently competed in the World Rally Championship.

For 2019, the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team will once again provide the winner of the previous year’s ADAC Opel Rallye Cup in Germany the chance to progress from national to international level, entering 2018 champion Elias Lundberg, 20 from Sweden, on the six ERC3 Junior rounds in an ADAM R2.

Luxembourg resident Grégoire Munster, son of former Belgian ERC stalwart Bernard Munster, will compete in a second ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team ADAM R2 having finished runner-up to Lundberg in Germany last season and having also won the Belgian Junior crown in 2018, his first full season of rallying. The 20-year-old scored points on a one-off ERC Junior appearance on Barum Czech Rally Zlín last August and impressed when he won on his R5 debut on an event in France late last year.

Opel remains on Corsa with new ERC-bound R2 challenger
Opel Motorsport has further underlined its commitment to junior-level rallying by confirming the development of a new R2 challenger for the FIA European Rally Championship and international customer programmes based on the sixth-generation Corsa road car. Developed in conjunction with Opel’s technology partner Holzer Motorsport, the Corsa R2 is due to be made available to customers by the end of 2020 with its competitive debut set for the 2021 season. Opel has also confirmed its support of the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup in 2019.

Bergkvist set the standard for others to follow
ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team drivers have won the FIA ERC3 Junior Championship title for the last four seasons, giving several young stars the chance to prove their talent at international level in the process.

Sweden’s Emil Bergkvist started the sequence in 2015, the year after he won the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup in Germany, and Jean-Baptiste Ley, the ERC Co-ordinator, has welcomed the squad’s ongoing support of the ERC and junior-level rallying with confirmation of the exciting Corsa R2 project from 2020.

“We are very pleased that the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team will continue to provide young drivers the chance to step up from national competition to the ERC and prove their talent in a very competitive championship held over six rounds on asphalt and gravel,” said Ley. “Run by Holzer Motorsport, the squad sets a very high standard and continues to produce some of the best young rallying prospects year on year with Tom Kristensson and Mārtiņš Sesks, its latest graduates, two very good examples of that. Confirmation of the Corsa R2 project from Opel Motorsport is also very exciting and very welcomed.”

Strong competition awaits ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team drivers in ERC
New ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team signings Elias Lundberg and Grégoire Munster will go up against a host of fellow young talents in ERC3 Junior in 2019. With the season-opening Azores Rallye (21-23 March) still more than a month away, the following drivers have announced their programmes for the year ahead, while several more will follow suit soon:

Sindre Furuseth (Norway) Co-driver: Jim Hjerpe (Sweden)
Saintéloc Junior Team / PEUGEOT 208 R2
Grigor Grigorov (Bulgaria) Co-driver: TBA
Grigorov Racing Team – Enekod / PEUGEOT 208 R2
Efrén Llarena (Spain) Co-driver: Sara Fernández (Spain)
Rally Team Spain / PEUGEOT 208 R2
Elias Lundberg (Sweden) Co-driver: TBA
ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team / Opel ADAM R2
Catie Munnings (Great Britain) Co-driver: TBA
Saintéloc Junior Team / PEUGEOT 208 R2
Grégoire Munster (Luxembourg) Co-driver: TBA
ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team / Opel ADAM R2
Roman Schwedt (Germany) Co-driver: Lina Meter (Germany)
ROMO Motorsport / PEUGEOT 208 R2

Zdroj: fiaerc.com