• No reward for Claire Schönborn on Portuguese gravel at the 2026 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) finale, despite a huge physical effort
• Feat of strength: a technical failure ends Saturday early, and a big fight at the physical limit on Sunday ends just after the flying finish of the Power Stage with another failure
• Claire Schönborn and Michael Wenzel aim to lift their spirits at their home event in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup next weekend

A big finale and a big fight, but no reward. Claire Schönborn and Michael Wenzel had to swallow more than one bitter disappointment in the Junior classification at the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) season finale in Portugal. An early power steering failure forced them to retire at Saturday lunchtime. Worse was to follow on Sunday. On the final stage a driveshaft sheared, and although they made it past the flying finish, all their heroic fighting was not enough to complete the rally. Despite holding sixth place on the road, they went unclassified.

The Rally Six Cities North of Portugal included legendary sections of the WRC classic, and Schönborn/Wenzel started with a carefully calculated level of risk. They were sixth in the Junior classification early on. On Saturday’s second stage, however, a faulty seal caused the power steering to lose all its fluid. Without power assistance, the 27-year-old from the Hunsrück region had to wrestle the car through two more stages to reach the remote service. The regulations do not allow a repair of this kind there, so Saturday ended early for the crew. On Sunday, after rejoining under the restart rules, Claire Schönborn pushed herself beyond her physical limit, with severe pain in the shoulder she had probably dislocated during Saturday’s ordeal. The fight went unrewarded. Schönborn/Wenzel brought sixth place home across the flying finish of the last stage, but the repair afterwards was only possible with help from the team, and that took them out of the classification. History repeated itself. A year ago, Schönborn was also denied the result she deserved at Rally de Portugal in the Junior WRC.

Despite the disappointing ERC finale, Claire Schönborn takes some positives away from Portugal. Her team-mates in the ADAC Opel Junior Rally Team, Timo Schulz and Maresa Lade (GER/GER), drove a controlled rally to secure the Junior European title.

“I like Portugal. Great country, great people, great stages. Whether the country likes me back, I’m not quite so sure any more. On Saturday the power steering failed, and we still fought our way through to the remote service. I went beyond my physical limit without really noticing it. I think I dislocated a shoulder on those brutal stages, but it popped back in by itself. Despite the huge pain, it was clear to us on Sunday morning that we would fight our way to the finish. Then, a kilometre and a half from the end of the last stage, a driveshaft sheared on top of everything else. We only just made it across the finish line and tried to fix the car straight after it with the tools and spares we had on board. No luck. In the end the team had to help us, and that put us out of the classification. It’s really bitter and I’m extremely frustrated. But we need to shake that off quickly, because our home rally, the Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, is only a few days away. There will be a lot of media attention on us there, and I’m looking forward to it! Huge congratulations to our team-mates Timo Schulz and Maresa Lade on winning the Junior ERC!”
CLAIRE SCHÖNBORN

TV and press spotlight on home event at the Saarland-Pfalz Rallye

Next weekend Claire Schönborn and Michael Wenzel, together with newly crowned Junior European champions Schulz/Lade, have the chance to lift the mood with a strong sporting result. Just five days after the rally in Portugal, the ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye takes place on 30 and 31 October. It was originally scheduled for mid-August, but the organisers had to cancel it at the time because of extreme weather. Now it is being rerun in the St. Wendel area, which makes it a true home event for Schönborn and Wenzel. For this one, the pair swap the Opel Corsa Rally4 for the all-electric Opel Mokka GSE Rally again and compete in the ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup. They won’t be on their own. A TV crew from German broadcaster SWR and reporters from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung will follow them throughout the event, from the first kilometre to the finish ramp.