German Rally Championship

Cross Country

Even off the racetrack and on the most difficult terrain, engine technology made by Spiess ensures the success of your involvement. At the wheel of the brand-new Opel Corsa OPC, Tim Stebani delivered in impressive style, in the 2009 German Rally Championship season kick-off. “This was pure rallying,” the 22-year old said afterwards. “My first ‘Rally Oberland’, the debut appearance for both our new car and our new service crew. The times we set demonstrated that we have got what it takes to battle it out for the top positions of the front-wheel driven cars.”

Following a difficult start and a tyre choice that proved to be anything but perfect, the crew around Horst Rotter optimised the Corsa OPC’s damper adjustments. A move that proved to be extremely successful: in the final special stage of leg one, Tim Stebani/Ferdinand Heindlmeier set a division best time and were ninth-fastest in the overall rankings. At the end of day one, the pairing had taken the lead in Division 2.

Over the course of the following special stages, Tim Stebani gathered more and more momentum. “The Corsa is impressively responsive to any change,” he revealed. “Consequently, we had the chance of adapting it perfectly to my style of driving.” The result: despite the competitive field, Stebani/Heindlmeier set two front-wheel drive best times

On the first weekend in April, Tim Stebani and his turbo powered 1.6-litre 210bhp Corsa will have to cope with their next challenge: the second German Rally Championship round – the ‘Wikinger Rallye – held in Schleswig.