Formula E test driver Sophia Flörsch to compete in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup

Sophia Flörsch bei Testfahrten im neuen Arbeitsgerät

Foto: Stellantis

In this way, the 25-year-old test and development driver is combining her involvement with Opel in the Stromer Monoposto World Championship with electric rallying – a discipline the brand helped to found and has been successfully shaping for years.

For the 25-year-old, this venture represents a motorsport adventure. On the one hand, in Formula E, she faces the challenge of intensive simulator work and development at the very highest level of the World Championship; on the other, she now faces the diametrically opposite challenge of rallying with a co-driver, pace notes and full commitment across varied terrain.

“I’ve always enjoyed taking on new challenges – that’s exactly what makes this venture so exciting for me,” explains Sophia Flörsch.

Rallye-Debütantin Sophia Flörsch und Co-Pilotin Nina Spitaler

Foto: Stellantis

“I’ve been following rallying for a long time, but driving it yourself is something completely different: you have to trust your co-driver 100 per cent, feel your way to the limit and drive with absolute precision – because there are no run-off areas here like there are on a circuit. The fact that I drive a Mokka GSE as my company car naturally makes it all the cooler – its sporty DNA is already clearly evident on the road, and now I get to experience what its rally counterpart is truly capable of.”

To ensure a successful start with the electrified Mokka GSE Rally, Flörsch has prepared specifically and intensively for competition. Together with her co-driver Nina Spitaler, she completed a three-day training session that went far beyond mere driving practice – covering many kilometres in the 207 kW (281 PS) car – and included intensive work on the pace notes, learning the theoretical basics, and getting in sync as a duo. Nina Spitaler, aged 29, from Lower Austria, is a highly successful rally co-driver and is also active as a driver in rallycross.

German rally prospect Claire Schönborn acted as coach at the facility of former World Rally Champion Manfred Stohl in Austria. The Hunsrück native will be competing for the brand with the lightning bolt in 2026 as part of a dual programme: In the European Junior Rally Championship – where she most recently secured a top-ten finish at last weekend’s European Championship round in Poland – the 26-year-old drives a Corsa Rally4 for the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team. In the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup, she drives a Mokka GSE Rally.

“Working with Claire and Nina has been an incredible experience,” says Sophia Flörsch positively.

Coach Claire Schönborn: Am letzten Wochenende in Polen erfolgreich

Foto: rk-media

“We’re all here to show that electric motorsport is fun and dynamic. It should also inspire the next generation of racing drivers, and women in motorsport in particular. The future of motorsport isn’t just electric – it’s also more diverse. Together, we can achieve a great deal,” says the Munich native.

Flörsch admits: “I approached this rally project without any rigid expectations; I want to learn, finish the race safely and, of course, achieve a good result in the process.”

At the fourth round of the ADAC Opel Rally Cup, held as part of the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rally around Illingen, 15 teams featuring top talent from across Europe will compete for the first time in an event forming part of the German Rally Championship. A total of 14 special stages will be contested, including a 20-kilometre sprint stage.