Ravenol DRC: Third Consecutive Title for Pöttgen

There has never been such a close finale in the Ravenol German Rally Cup. After 13 preliminary rounds and a photo-finish at the ADAC Saarland Rallye (30 and 31 October 2026), the two top-placed crews among a total of 81 classified teams were separated by just 1.03 points. By winning the near-series class NC8, Niklas Pöttgen and co-driver David Wölwer also secured the overall victory in the Ravenol DRC. For Pöttgen and his bright-yellow Seat Ibiza it was already the third DRC victory in a row.

"We won't believe it until we're up on the ramp and honoured as winners," the two said incredulously before the prize-giving. "If it's really true, then I have to stop. Winning the DRC three times, nobody will probably achieve that again," Pöttgen said still sceptically. "Our concept of starting with a near-series car and reliably collecting points is paying off fully." They only truly beamed when they were received on the ramp with a champagne shower.

Mathias Schläppi, who this time was travelling with his fellow Swiss Iris Thurnherr, came in the Peugeot 208 R2 in the Saarland and could do no better than third place in class NC3. Although he had arrived with a narrow lead, it was not enough in the end to win the cup. The disappointment was written on his face.

With the points from a convincing win in class NC3, Niklas and Guido Möller in their BMW 318ti catapulted themselves to third place in the DRC overall standings. "It is an incredible feeling, at first we didn't want to believe it," the pair beamed at the finish. "That was an unbelievably tough rally. We consistently drove our pace. This is also our first class win, and at exactly the right time. We wouldn't have thought that possible beforehand."

Möller added: "This is a championship where we can keep up with our car and our family team. And the Cup rewards that."

For two title hopefuls the finale ended prematurely. On the second stage Tony Bayer and Dominik Buß rolled their car; they had previously been sitting second overall with only a one-second deficit. "We braked for a left-hander too late and then we rolled over," reported a visibly downcast Tony Bayer. "That was it for our BMW 323. Very unfortunate, but this sport can be that harsh."

One stage later it was over for Kevin Müller and Stefanie Spreitzer. "Everything was going so well. On the first stage we were only four seconds off the overall best time. Then we coasted to a stop with a turbocharger failure and no power," Müller reported. "We were perfectly prepared, we had overhauled everything on our Toyota GR Yaris. It was probably a hairline crack we couldn't see."

The special classification Ravenol DRC Trophy powered by Pirelli for teams running Pirelli tyres in the DRC rounds also went to Pöttgen. Close behind came Schläppi, with Christopher Gerhard taking third place.

In the special classification Gassner Motorsport TOP Five Trophy the registered DRC teams who finish in one of the first five places of the rally overall standings are ranked. The win here went to Christopher Gerhard in the Skoda Fabia R5 ahead of Max Reiter in the Lancia Y Rally4 and Björn Satorius in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

In total, around 30.000 euros were paid out in prize money across the various classifications.

ADAC Rallye Junior Cup

Beaming faces at Arwed and Aaron Jungnickel: With their fourth win of the season at the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, which also hosted the DRC finale, the brothers secured overall victory in the inaugural year of the ADAC Rallye Junior Cup.

"This is so gigantic," the Jungnickel brothers rejoiced at the finish. "After winning the opener, we suffered a setback with the retirement in Stemwede. As siblings we fought our way back and now with this win we've also won the Cup. We are incredibly proud to achieve such a result as a pure family team with our friends and supporters."

Second overall were Lukas Meiners and Leon Hasenkamp, who also finished second in Saarland. "This feels amazing. Of course we would have liked to win, but being able to fight for the victory right until the end was incredible."

Meiners added: "This Cup year we have gained an enormous amount of experience in creating pace notes and have also developed a lot as drivers."

Third place was taken by siblings Luca and Merle Wanke. "The season was a lot of fun and we learned an enormous amount. The pace note is absolutely the most important thing, driving comes almost by itself over time," the siblings explained. "With an inexpensive entry car you can even win promotion to the Electric Cup here. It's definitely worth getting involved."

The Jungnickel brothers now look forward to moving up to the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup. They will be provided with an Opel Mokka GSE Rally free of charge. In addition, their entry fee will be covered and a subsidy for the campaign budget granted.

"We are hugely excited about the Electric Cup. We are very curious to see what we can deliver there. Let's see how the two of us from Saxony can mix it up," the Jungnickel brothers said.

During the season, in addition to the regular prize money, the junior teams received an additional 50 Euro per Junior Cup round via the Ravenol-Speed-Trophy for each Cup best time set at an event. The entries ran in identical Opel Corsa Rally6 cars, which were deliberately kept close to series specification to limit costs.

Result 53rd ADAC Saarland Rallye 2026