Motorsport
The brutal Acropolis Rally was won by Rovanperä! Drivers hit rock bottom, Neuville and Ogier suffer from harsh conditions
From Thursday to Sunday, the tenth event of this year’s World Rally Championship season was on the agenda, namely the legendary Acropolis Rally. Kalle Rovanperä eventually won the event, but his biggest rivals experienced significant problems during the event. What did the Greek event do to the championship standings?
From Thursday to Sunday, the tenth event of this year’s World Rally Championship season was on the agenda, namely the legendary Acropolis Rally. Kalle Rovanperä eventually won the event, but his biggest rivals experienced significant problems during the event. What did the Greek event do to the championship standings?
The seventieth edition of the Acropolis Rally was marked by beautiful but very difficult stages, accidents and technical problems. In short, the Greek event proved once again that it is one of the toughest in the entire WRC calendar.
The drivers were also plagued by variable conditions, especially on Friday the gravel surface was heavily covered in mud due to the rains. However, the venues were gradually drying out, allowing fans to watch a typical Greek rally.
The winner was reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä, who won 8 of the originally planned 15 stages.
On Friday he cleared the track for all drivers, but on Saturday he started in much more favourable conditions and won five of the six stages on Saturday.
Rovanperä also won the final Power Stage. He beat second-placed Elfyn Evans by 2.5 seconds. He therefore takes full 30 points from Greece and wins for the third time this season.
A very good race for Evans, Sordo showed his experience
He was joined on the podium by teammate Evans and the experienced Dani Sordo. The Welshman suffered a few technical problems over the weekend, but in the end he records a very good Acropolis Rally.
Although he only won one stage (SS13), he stayed on top for most of the day. Sunday was the best day for him in terms of results – he won stage 13 and finished second in stage 14 and the Power Stage.
Spain’s Sordo recorded a very respectable third place and although he was not maximally satisfied, he thanked his team for the opportunity to compete in the Acropolis Rally.
The Acropolis Rally took its toll on several drivers…
The final fourth place in the WRC category went to Ott Tänak. The Estonian started very well, staying at the front. But on Friday, before the fourth stage, he received a penalty (3 minutes and 40 seconds) for a water pump repair.
But then he showed perfect damage limitation, winning the last two stages on Friday. On Saturday he complained about the handling of the car and struggled to make up the deficit. Otherwise, he was setting times on par with the elite five drivers and, thanks to many technical problems from other drivers, ended up with a certainly acceptable P4.
Fifth place Esapekka Lappi had a frustrating weekend. The Finnish racer’s handbrake, alternator and even the gearbox failed to work properly on Saturday. His weekend is perfectly symbolized by the interview below. It should be noted, fifth place was the best he could have gotten out of the Acropolis Rally, all things considered.
Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville destroyed by the harsh conditions
He competed for a very long time with Rovanper, eventually making it as high as seventh in the Acropolis Rally in the elite WRC championship.
Ogier finished successively second, third, first, third and second on Friday, and he also stayed at the top of the standings throughout the course of Saturday afternoon. However, he suffered a significant loss on stage 12 when he suffered a puncture to his right front and rear wheels, with the suspension on his left rear wheel snapping again. From then on he was clearly out of the running not only for the win but also for the podium.
Belgian Neuville was one of the favourites for victory. He won one stage on Friday, finished second three times and fourth once. But on Saturday, specifically in stage 10, he suffered a big blow to the right front of the car.
Neuville drove into a big hole and his suspension snapped. The Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver had to retire from first place. He finished the rest of the Acropolis Rally and did not score any points in the final Power Stage.
World Championship standings?
So what has the Acropolis Rally done to the championship standings? Rovanperä has already rounded up his points contribution this season to 200. He has a 33-point lead over second-placed Evans. Neuville is third with 134 points, followed by Estonian Tänak with 119 points.
The legendary Ogier rounds out the elite five, but he is only running partial events this year. But the Frenchman has managed to collect 99 points so far. One point behind him is Lappi, seventh is Takamoto Katsuta (66 points), eighth Sordo (63 points), ninth Teemu Suninen (34 points) and tenth Pierre-Louis Loubet (28 points).
As far as the team standings are concerned, Toyota has a truly luxurious lead with three races to go in the season. It currently has 430 points, with Hyundai 339 in second and Ford 220 in third.
Source: WRC, Twitter / X
