Stemwede, Germany – For the Infypower chargebyte e-Rally Team, last weekend marked the seventh round of the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup 2025: the Rallye Stemweder Berg. After just two weeks since Rallye Mont-Blanc, preparations began already on Thursday with a private test to readapt from the selective and flowing French stages to the special challenges in Germany. The stages in the north are characterized by numerous 90-degree junctions. A completely different rhythm. All eleven registered championship teams were at the start.
Friday evening kicked off with four stages that had to be completed without service, with only one charging break scheduled. That meant tire strategy was crucial. “At the last rally in France, we tried a mixed tire setup in the rain, with wets at the front and slicks at the rear, but we never felt comfortable with it. So, this time we decided to completely set the wet tires aside and take only slicks as spares,” explained co-driver Maximilian Kugler. At first, the decision seemed spot-on: the first loop in the early evening stayed dry. But everything changed for the second loop, which started at 8:30 p.m. in complete darkness. Right at the beginning of the night stage, heavy rain set in. Driver Johannes Wittenbeck reported: “That’s almost the toughest combination you can get: rain, night, and running only on slicks. Normally we are way too cautious in those conditions and lose a lot of time to our competitors. But this time we managed the challenge really well and were able to maintain the gap to the front-runners. We were very happy with that.” By the end of the day, the duo sat in 8th overall. A solid base to defend their 7th place in the championship.
On Saturday, Wittenbeck/Kugler continued their consistent drive and additionally benefited from the misfortune of the German pairing Lemke/Gräfe, who retired with a broken driveshaft but rejoined for the final stage. The Bavarian duo thus moved up to 7th place and defended this position safely to the finish. A comparison with the identical stages from the previous year also showed a clear improvement in their pace. A very positive sign. On the final Power Stage, the team wanted to push once more. The run was nearly perfect, the pace very strong, with only a small mistake when they slid into a ditch in the final 600 meters costing them some seconds. However, even without that slip, the time would not have been enough for a Top 5 result to secure extra championship points. In the overall standings, they remained in 7th place. “In the championship, we probably won’t be able to gain any more positions with the last event left. But of course we want to defend our 7th place at all costs,” said Kugler.
At the top of the standings, things remain intense. After three consecutive victories, Belgian title contenders Tom Heindrichs and Jonas Schmitz had to settle for 4th place this time and lost valuable points. Victory went for the first time to the Dutch national team of Fabian Kamermans and Stefan Müller, with Kilian Nierenz and Milena Raithel finishing second, and the Spanish Cup leaders Álex Español and Borja Odriozola taking third. Español also claimed the Power Stage win, while Heindrichs could only manage the sixth-fastest time there and came away empty-handed. This means the Spanish duo head to the grand season finale, the Central European Rally, held within the WRC in Hauzenberg from October 17–19, with a 12-point advantage over the Belgians.