Ravenol DRC: Big finale in the Saarland

The DRC finale is held as part of a round of the German Rally Championship, which itself follows the course of the former World Championship event around the Bostalsee. This allows the DRC teams to stage their finale on world-championship paths.

The first special stage will already be run on Friday. The name “Windpark” alone, with its legendary jump crest, quickens rally hearts. A special challenge: the stage will be run in the dark. On Saturday two further stages follow, each to be driven twice. Some sections will therefore be run into sunset. In total the teams face 63.96 special-stage kilometres, of which just under eight are on unpaved surface.

After an exciting season with 13 rounds five teams still have realistic chances of the title. Mathias Schläppi leads the standings before the finale with 67.22 points. From Niklas Pöttgen, the champion of the past two years, to fifth-placed Tony Bayer with 56.70 points, all teams still have the title in sight.

The special feature of the finale: the points, which as always are awarded within the respective classes in relation to finishing position and to the number of starters, will count double this time. That can still heavily shake up the standings.

For Mathias Schläppi, who this time again starts in the Peugeot 208 R2 (NC3) with his Swiss compatriot Iris Thurnherr, it is about the biggest success of his still fairly short rally career.

“We may be ahead, but mathematically everything is still open because of the double points,” says Schläppi. “We have prepared our lion conscientiously and will approach the event as usual in a controlled way. Avoiding mistakes has top priority. A defect or a slip basically means the end of the championship fight with double points.”

Niklas Pöttgen, who as always starts with David Wölwer in the Seat Ibiza in the near-series class NC8, is a double title defender. He took the winner’s trophy home in 2024 and 2025.

“The finale in the Saarland has always been a lottery in recent years because of the conditions. This year at least the rain seems to be absent,” explains Pöttgen and adds: “We will drive several stages in the dark. In combination with the completely new stages that is a challenge, but it also creates equal opportunities. Mathias (Schläppi) no longer has to attack flat out and can manage his points lead. Nevertheless we will be there when the chance arises.”

His clear statement: “We must win our class so that we can hold at least second place by our own strength.”

Kevin Müller and co-driver Stephanie Spreitzer will start in the Toyota GR Yaris in class NC2. Their season was mixed, yet they managed to finish the rounds in third place.

“We are especially looking forward to the night stages, because you might experience something like that once or twice in a season,” explains Müller and adds: “I think that with a good co-driver it doesn’t matter when and where you drive. Steffi’s calls are always spot on. That’s why we are looking forward to the rally.”

Niklas and Gerrit Möller start with their BMW 318ti, like Schläppi in class NC3. They are therefore fighting for the same class points.

“We want to drive our own pace as always and go for the podium,” explains driver Niklas. “We are already very satisfied with how the season has gone. If in the end a top-3 placing in the DRC standings comes out of it, that would be great.”

With a view to the task he says: “In the night stages you can see who has a good pace note and who is ready to take the risk. Since we have never driven here before, it is certainly an advantage for us that the stages are new to everyone. We are optimistic.”

Just behind Möller in the interim Ravenol DRC standings are Tony Bayer and Dominik Buß before the finale. With their BMW 323ti Compact they are, like Müller, classified in class NC2 and therefore will compete directly against each other.

“Our goal is definitely to first of all get to the finish,” says Bayer. “Our BMW is built to a cost-optimised specification and sometimes reaches its limits towards the end of the season.”

“We are looking forward to the night stages, a real speciality in the DRC. The link to the DRM round certainly makes it interesting, and the stages will be something quite special. With Kevin and Steffi it will certainly be a hard fight again. We are looking forward to it. Keep your fingers crossed that the technology holds up.”

Entry list 53rd ADAC Saarland Rallye 2026