A few weeks ago pictures were leaked showing a Peugeot Sports‘ mechanic working on a test and on the boot lid of the car was an Opel emblem. It was not the new all-electric Opel Corsa-E that was tested but the brand-new Opel Corsa Rally4.
It is now clear that Opel will enter the new and tough Rally4 class, formerly known as R2 with a successor to the Opel Adam R2. The car is being developed in-house together with the PSA Group’s motorsport departments.
Peugeot already has a car in Rally4, now the Opel Corsa Rally4 will be presented in 2021 with experience and technology from the sister car.
It will be a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder engine based on the production model with a turbocharger that delivers 208hp, control box from Magneti Marelli and gearbox from Sadev, and down to the wheels are springs from Eibach and Öhlin’s shock absorbers.
In the south of France, Marijan Griebel and Yoann Bonato drove over 100 kilometres for five days last week – spread over both gravel and asphalt. Griebel is known from previous events with Opel Motorsport and praised the car from the first tests, with it being easier to drive than the Opel Adam R2. Team manager Jörg Schrott is also pleased with what the team has produced undercover.
As early as the 1 December this year, the car will be homologated, which means a hectic final squeeze with tests and development to get a winning car from the start – a short time frame in an important class where chances of change over time are minimal.
Deliveries to customers will not take place until the 2021 season, the price will be revealed shortly and the company believes that much emphasis has been placed on simplicity for buyers to drive cars and worked to reduce operating costs.
When the all-electric ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup kicks off next year, a series that should have started already this year but has been postponed until 2021, a seat in the factory team with the Opel Corsa Rally4 the following year will be the prize.
The concept is recognisable from the Opel Adam Cup where winners such as Eerik Pietarinen, Elias Lundberg, Tom Kristensson and Jari Huttunen were able to take the step to the Junior European Championship with Opel from the German single-make class.
