• Barum Czech Rally Zlín: Fifth round of the 2022 European Junior Rally Championship
• Fourth win of the season: Laurent Pellier clinches EC title with Opel Corsa Rally4
• ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team celebrates fifth JERC triumph overall since 2015

With his fourth victory of the season, Frenchman Laurent Pellier gave the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team its fifth title win overall in the European Junior Rally Championship (JERC) at the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Thanks to an outstanding performance, the 27-year-old Pellier and his co-driver Marine Pelamourgues (24) gave the assembled European junior elite no chance in their Opel Corsa Rally4 and dominated the fifth round of the 2022 JERC season almost at will. Pellier/Pelamourgues were the fastest in eleven of the thirteen special stages. Although they had already been ahead by 43.9 seconds after the first stage, the Opel crew did not let up and set fastest times in all six stages on Sunday. In the end, their lead over Italy’s Andrea Mabellini in the Renault Clio Rally4 was 1:32.1 minutes. The only serious title rival left before the Czech JERC round, Spaniard Oscar Palomo (Peugeot 208 Rally4), was even 2:23,3 minutes behind at the finish in Zlín. It was the fourth win of the season for Pellier after triumphs in the Junior European Championship rounds at Gran Canaria, Poland and Italy.

In addition to the performance of Pellier/Pelamourgues and the entire team, it was the Opel Corsa Rally4 celebrating its debut season, which contributed to this success in particular. The 1.2-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged engine produces an impressive 156 kW (212 hp) and maximum torque of 290 Newton metres.

"That was a rally straight out of a picture book," beamed Pellier, who had been promoted to the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team after winning the title in the world’s first electric rally one-make cup, the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, last year. "The whole team did an outstanding job. Marine performed as flawlessly in the right seat as the Stohl crew did in the service park – so it was business as usual. And the Corsa Rally4 is simply a great rally car. I’m delighted with this title win and thank everyone who made it possible – first and foremost those responsible at Opel Motorsport and ADAC, as well as Manfred Stohl and his great squad!"

"Laurent has proven this season what an outstanding rally driver he is," praised Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott. "It wasn’t just his four victories, but above all the way he handled the accident in Latvia that particularly impressed me. He and Marine absolutely dominated the JERC season in the Corsa Rally4, which was also a credit to Stohl Racing. My personal thanks go to the team boss. Manfred Stohl was a guarantor for success with his experience and enthusiasm. Here, for example, we were certainly the only ones who made the right tire choice for every special stage. Manfred exemplifies to his team how to achieve success in rallying – a real leader figure. " And what makes the Opel motorsport boss particularly happy: "That we have once again proven that the joint promotion of young talents by ADAC and Opel works. Opel is the only manufacturer in the world that offers young rally drivers such opportunities. And when such a commitment pays off like this, it simply makes you proud."

The new champion Laurent Pellier thus joins a remarkable line-up of JERC title winners from the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team. With Emil Bergkvist (Sweden), Marijan Griebel (Germany), Chris Ingram (England) and Mārtiņš Sesks (Latvia), four top talents from the joint Opel/ADAC talent pool were crowned Junior European Rally Champion between 2015 and 2018.