Tom to drive Corsa-e in final round of the Opel e-Rally Cup
Following a successful outing driving a Vauxhall Corsa-e in the Get Connected Rali Ceredigion at the beginning of September, Aberdovey’s Tom Cave has been invited to compete in the final round of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, the 3 Städte Rallye (3 Cities Rally), by the car’s owners Myerscough College & University Centre.
Taking place between 13th and 15th October, the rally is unique as its route takes competitors into three countries: Bavaria, Austria and for the first time this year, Czech Republic. The event represents the seventh and final round of the only one-make rally series in the world for fully electric vehicles, consequently attracting a great deal of attention from the sport’s governing bodies, manufacturers and event organisers who are looking at how motorsport’s future can become more sustainable.
Students from Lancashire-based Myerscough College and University Centre are first-time visitors to Germany when they will support their car on this, the final round of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup as part of their Motorsport Competition Car Technology course. Following the successful appearance on Rali Ceredigion, team manager and lecturer at Myerscough College Simon Moss invited Tom to drive the car on the 3 Städte Rallye.
“We were very pleased with the way things went on the Rali Ceredigion, so when the opportunity to take the car to the final round of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup came up, I had no hesitation in asking Tom if he was available to drive the car.” explains Simon.
“With the experience of Tom and his co-driver on this occasion Dale Furniss, we are hoping they can compete with the front runners in the series and if we could come away with a podium finish it would be a great way to end the season for the students and the College. It would also serve to draw attention to what we’re doing and showcase how alternatively powered vehicles can be used for motorsport.”
Tom is equally as intrigued about his trip to Germany:
“It’s great to be invited to drive the Corsa-e again. My previous outing in the car was an interesting and enjoyable experience, albeit different to what I’m used to. However. I’m very pleased to be involved with what is clearly a very significant and important innovation in the sport that could shape the future of rallying and its sustainability for years to come.
“Whilst I’ve not taken part in this rally before, I’m hoping that my previous overseas outings will serve me well, although I’ll be up against drivers who have a far more experience of driving the Corsa-e. I’m fascinated to see how things go, especially as unlike Rali Ceredigion, I’ll be competing against others in the same machinery and there’s the infrastructure in place for charging the cars between the stages.”
Following a pre-event shakedown on Thursday (13th October), the 3 Städte Rallye gets underway from Waldkirchen in Bavaria at 14.30 on Friday with six stages before the overnight halt. Saturday sees another eight stages before the finish at 18.00 in Breitenberg, also in Bavaria. The 14 stages combined provides competitors with a total of 168.5 kms crossing the borders of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
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- Published in News
History made with first all-electric car on multi-venue stage rally in UK
When you take part in any sport it’s important to go into an event with an open mind and treat it as an opportunity to learn new things. Well, this weekend’s Get connected Rali Ceredigion was certainly one of those occasions.
A few weeks ago I was asked if I would drive a Vauxhall Corse-e on the rally. It would be the first time a 100% electric vehicle had ever competed on a multi-venue stage rally. Without knowing too much about car I said yes as again, it was a chance to learn something new.
I knew that because it was a first and the rally was focussing on sustainability and promoting lower-carbon transport initiatives, it would gain a lot of publicity for all sorts of reasons. I tested the car last week to get a feel for it and I must admit that whilst I’ve competed in small hatchbacks before, it felt very different from any other I’ve ever driven.
This is mainly because of the transmission. There isn’t any. It’s just direct drive to the wheels from the electric motors. You can still left-foot-brake and use the handbrake as you would in a traditional rally car though, which is good.
The car was built by Opel Motorsport to take part in the ADAC Opel e-rally Cup in Germany. It’s currently owned by Myerscough College & University Centre in Preston, Lancashire, where a team of motorsport students maintain and prepare the car. They did a fantastic job of looking after Will Atkins – my co-driver for this event – and I throughout the event.
Without many moving parts, there was never going to be much that needed to be done at the service halts, other than charging the battery of course. Because you’re driving flat out on the stages, they told me it would drain the power four-times quicker than that of normal driving. Therefore, we had to schedule our rally a little differently to other competitors.
We did the two short Saturday stages that ran from Aberystwyth marina, around the sea front road beneath the castle grounds, into the town and then finished just before the prom. It was fantastic to see so many people watching. It was more than I’ve seen on some WRC events! A real credit to the organisers.
The route then headed inland for two much longer stages in the countryside. However, with delays caused due to a few incidents and cars blocking the roads, we only completed one of the stages before the overnight halt.
I then drove all of the stages on Sunday once, whereas other competitors completed them twice. Whilst the Corsa would have probably made it round the whole route, this was a huge learning exercise for everyone involved and we didn’t want to push our luck.
I was absolutely overwhelmed with the attention surrounding the project and the number of questions I was asked. Clearly, it was well received and people seemed to be very interested in what this meant for the future of the sport. They understood this represented a significant moment in the history of rallying and I have to say that I was proud to be part of it.
I remember making history three years ago, when in 2019 the event was held for the first time. Running at number one meant that I became the first driver to compete on closed public roads in Wales.
On that occasion I was driving a Hyundai i20 R5 and of course, it would be good to have been challenging for the overall lead again this year. But sport is cyclical and I’m sure that opportunity will come round again before too long. Whether or not it’s in a fully-electric, Hybrid or conventionally powered car, we’ll just have to wait and see…
Thanks and congratulations goes to everyone involved with the Corsa-e project: Myerscough College & University Centre, Cawdor Group – Vauxhall dealers covering Mid and West Wales – Renewable Developments Wales, Go Fetch pet travel, Michelin tyres, Garry Davies Accident Repairs and ATech Racing.
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