Day 1
Kalle Rovanperä led EKO Acropolis Rally Greece on Thursday evening after winning the fan-packed super special stage in capital city Athens.
The Toyota GR Yaris-driving Rovanperä outpaced Hyundai rival Esapekka Lappi by just one-tenth of a second through the asphalt-based EKO Super Special Stage, run for the first time on this 70th-anniversary edition of Acropolis Rally Greece.
Less than one second separated the leading five crews but it was Thierry Neuville, driving an i20 N identical to that of Lappi’s, who filled the final podium spot. Returning team-mate Dani Sordo was 0.1sec further back while M-Sport Ford Puma man Ott Tänak completed the top five.
Day 2
Just 2.8sec blanketed the duelling duo after the first full day of competition at the legendary Acropolis’ 70th edition. Despite winning just one of the five gruelling gravel road tests, Neuville led from start to finish.
The Hyundai i20 N driver passed overnight pacesetter Kalle Rovanperä by going fastest through the Loutraki opener and had pulled out a 7.4sec buffer over Toyota rival Ogier going into the final stage in Elatia. But his hard work was very nearly in vain as a mechanical problem, suspected to be transmission related, hampered him throughout the 28.32km blast.
Rovanperä scored one stage win as the rally threaded up the country following Thursday’s spectacular start in Athens.
Just 5.5sec behind was Elfyn Evans, who struggled to make an impact despite this fixture being crucial in his bid to hunt down championship leader Rovanperä.
A stall in the final stage saw i20 N man Dani Sordo slip from fifth to seventh but the Spaniard’s frustrations were nothing compared with those of Ott Tänak, who sat ninth behind Nikolay Gryazin in an M-Sport Ford Puma.
Day 3
Neuville was 10.9sec clear when he thumped a hole and shattered his Hyundai i20 N’s front-right suspension on the first stage of the afternoon loop. He had trailed championship leader Rovanperä by 36 points coming into this fixture, round 10 of 13.
His demise left Ogier in control but the Frenchman, who entered the final Eleftherohori stage 12.4sec ahead of team-mate Rovanperä, swiped a rock which destroyed the rear-left suspension on his Toyota GR Yaris. He retired on the final road section whilst Rovanperä romped to the top.
There was drama throughout the field as Rovanperä’s closest championship challenger Elfyn Evans limped to the finish of SS9 in EV mode when his Toyota began overheating. Having plummeted to fifth, the Welshman hauled himself back up the order only to be demoted to third by Sordo in the final test.
Despite having 3min 40sec in time penalties for being late out of Friday’s tyre fitting zone, M-Sport Ford Puma driver Tänak enjoyed a clean run in comparison to his rivals and climbed from ninth to fourth, passing fifth and sixth-placed Esapekka Lappi and Takamoto Katsuta in the process.
Day 4
Rovanperä drove through Sunday’s finale error-free and secured maximum points in the power stage to head Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans while Dani Sordo completed the podium in a Hyundai i20 N.
The championship leader could afford to back off during the pair of stages, ending the loop with a 1m29.32s lead over title rival and team-mate Elfyn Evans, who snatched second from Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.
Sordo started the morning in second spot but trailed Evans by 2.7s heading into the final stage. Tanak, Lappi, Takamoto, Mikkelselen (Winner of the WRC2 Class), Greensmith, Rossel & Ogier completed the top 10 positions
