The Opel ADAM R2 is still setting the bar in its fiercely competitive class in the fifth year of its homologation. In any case, last season’s result followed on seamlessly from that of the year before. The drivers on the 2018 ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team swept home to victory in the European Junior Rally Championship.
Alongside Latvian Mārtiņš Sesks’ two European titles in the FIA ERC Junior U27 and the ERC3, his co-driver Renārs Francis also took home the European co-driver crown, while the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team came top of the national and team rankings, meaning the ADAM R2 won five out of a possible five titles on the European stage. Let’s take a look at best photos from the season.
Leaving the competition in the dust: The Opel ADAM R2 is still the most successful rally car in its class.
Azores Airlines Rally, Portugal
First Place for the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team
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- The ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team managers were pleased with new addition Mārtiņš Sesks’ refreshing performance from the word go. The 18-year-old Latvian was involved in a thrilling duel with Team Azores’ Portuguese Diogo Gago right from the first special stage.
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- Tire damage and transmission problems meant the young man from Liepāja had to settle for third place.
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- Mārtiņš (left) and his co-driver Renārs Francis were incredibly happy with their first-place finish in the FIA ERC Junior U27. “I quickly felt at home in this great rally car, despite having only tested the ADAM R2 for barely 100 kilometers before the rally,” said Mārtiņš.
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- Tom Kristensson and co-driver Henrik Appelskog were denied a similar reward. After having passed the finish line of special stage four with their fastest time, the Swedish drivers slid on a stone while going through a tight left turn, causing their ADAM R2 to flip over.
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- “It felt pretty strange to me,” commented Kristensson. “That was my first rollover in around 200 rallies.”
Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés, Spain
Second Place for the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team
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- The Rally Islas Canarias saw Mārtiņš Sesks take second place after finishing third in the first rally of the season on the Azores, and pushed him up to second place in the FIA ERC Junior interim rankings.
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- His Swedish teammate Tom Kristensson, 27, grabbed fourth place in the asphalt race in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, which meant he got his first points on the board since the crash in the season opener.
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- Tom Kristensson, last-year’s ADAC Opel Rally Cup champion, lost a few seconds on the first day due to the difficult conditions that made the streets wet and slippery. Although the Saturday saw him gain significant momentum, it wasn’t enough to put him in striking distance of fighting it out for a place on the podium.
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- Sesks and his co-driver Francis were locked in a ferocious battle for pole position with Diogo Gago from Portugal and Efrén Llarena from Spain right from the very beginning. The Latvian had to narrowly admit defeat 14 special stages and over more than 200 kilometers later.
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- The Rally Islas Canarias was the man’s first ever asphalt rally. “I’m really happy with the second podium finish in a row,” beamed Sesks. “At first, I had to adapt to how unbelievably late you can brake on asphalt with the ADAM R2 and how ridiculously fast you can through corners with this car.”
Rally di Roma Capitale, Italy
One-two Finish for the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team
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- The third race in the European Junior Rally Championship (FIA ERC Junior U27) saw the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team clean house in the Rally di Roma Capitale.
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- Behind the wheel of the Opel ADAM R2, Mārtiņš Sesks celebrated his first win in the ERC Junior, with the victory propelling him to the top of the rankings of the fiercely competitive European Junior Championship at the mid-point of the season.
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- Assisting in rounding off the one-two victory was Tom Kristensson, who also celebrated his first podium of the FIA ERC Junior U27, pushing up him up to third place in the overall ranking behind teammate Sesks and Peugeot driver Efrén Llarena.
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- Tom Kristensson and co-driver Henrik Appelskog couldn’t stop smiling as they discussed their first podium finish in the FIA ERC Junior U27. “It was really about time,” said last year’s ADAC Opel Rally Cup champion.
Barum Czech Rally Zlín, Czech Republic
ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team on Course for the Title
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- Behind the wheel of the Opel ADAM R2, Mārtiņš Sesks also added the Barum Czech Rally Zlín in the Czech Republic to his list of wins four weeks after his first victory in Rome, opening up a 59-point gap between him and his nearest challenger in the overall ranking…
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- …a guy by the name of Tom Kristensson after four races out of six. The 27-year-old Swedish driver’s third-place finish in the asphalt chase in the eastern Czech city meant he celebrated his second podium finish in a row, completing Opel’s one-two lead in both the FIA ERC Junior U27 and the ERC3 rankings.
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- Both Opel juniors held their nerve in the adverse weather conditions – intermittent heavy showers and extremely treacherous asphalt tracks.
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- Sesks threw less caution to the wind after winning the first stage on Saturday evening and ultimately finished 17.3 seconds ahead of Wagner.
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- “I’m over the moon,” beamed the league leader from the Baltic region, who once again relied on his co-driver’s (Francis’) instructions. “The ultimate goal was to get our ADAM R2 across the line safely. I still have a lot to learn and I’ve never driven on a surface like the one here. I could have made a slip-up at any time.”
Rally Poland, Poland
Opel Celebrates its Fourth European Championship in a Row
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- The ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team cleared house at the Rally Poland. Although Mārtiņš Sesks didn’t finish in the points in the second-to-last race of the European Junior Rally Championship (FIA ERC U27), the 19-year-old Latvian secured Opel’s fourth title win in Europe’s premier junior rally championship.
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- It was anything other than plain sailing as Sesks rolled over while in the lead on the Saturday and had to abandon the first stage. However, the scoring system of the FIA ERC Junior U27 means that only four of the six individual results are counted towards the final score. That meant that Sesks could completely write off the Rally Poland and could not be caught in the final race in Latvia. Opel Motorsport Director Jörg Schrott was also pleased with the positive outcome of the drama on the gravel in Masuria. “Congratulations to Mārtiņš, who has come on leaps and bounds over the course of the season.”
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- Meanwhile, teammate Tom Kristensson celebrated his first win in the FIA ERC Junior U27, cementing second place before the final race of the season. Last but not least, the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team had a good chance of coming top of the team ranking after the fifth stage.
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- “That was long overdue,” said Tom Kristensson about his first win for the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team in the European Junior Rally Championship. “I really enjoyed this rally with its ultra-fast, fluent, gravelly special stages. Taking the ADAM R2 to the absolute limit was pure enjoyment.” “That was long overdue,” said Tom Kristensson about his first win for the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team in the European Junior Rally Championship. “I really enjoyed this rally with its ultra-fast, fluent, gravelly special stages. Taking the ADAM R2 to the absolute limit was pure enjoyment.”
Rally Liepāja, Latvia
A Season Finale Straight out of a Picture Book
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- Ending on a high: 27-year-old Tom Kristensson from Sweden and 19-year-old local hero Mārtiņš Sesks (photo) celebrated a dominant one-two victory in the final race of the season around the Latvian harbor city of Liepāja.
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- “It was a rally straight out of a picture book,” gushed winner Kristensson. “A fantastic racecar, an excellent team, wonderful special stages on gravel, and postcard weather to boot – a rally can’t get much better.”
At the Starting Line in Twelve Championships
The ADAM R2 Also Prevailed at National Level
Opel customers have captured five titles across twelve national championships – Luca Waldherr in Austria (2WD category), Tim Novak in Slovenia (Division 2 and Division 5), as well as Grégoire Munster, who took home the Junior and RC4 prizes in the Belgian Rally Championship to go with his second-place finish in the ADAC Opel Rally Cup. The ‘lightning bolt’ is also traditionally strong in the German Rally Championship. Although 2018 didn’t see a title victory, wins in five classes and twelve podium finishes was enough. The Opel division in Italy also did well with four victories and five podium finishes, alongside the Opel division in Belgium (four victories and eight podium finishes). The ADAM R2 collected at least one class victory over a total of nine national championships.
Second place in the Opel Rally Cup: Grégoire Munster at the ADAC Three-City Rally.
You can’t take your eyes off of it: 226,000 enthusiastic fans came to see the ADAC Rally Germany in August.
December 2018