Friday
A power issue for Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier handed Hyundai’s Ott Tanak the Acropolis Rally advantage as drama struck four of the five World Rally Championship title contenders.
Tanak was the only championship challenger to avoid problems to end an attritional Friday on Greece’s rough gravel roads with a 21.8s lead over team-mate Dani Sordo.
Ogier had led the rally by 5.9s at the midday service and won three of the day’s six stages, but a turbo issue with his Toyota GR Yaris ahead of the final test dropped the Frenchman to fourth [+2m26.4s].
Championship leader and road opener Thierry Neuville completed a 1-2-3 for Hyundai, recovering to third [+45.2s] after his i20 N was reduced to three cylinders across the morning.
M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster appeared to be on course to finish the day in fourth before a double puncture in stage six dropped him to seventh [+4m08.4s], behind leading WRC2 runners Robert Virves and Sami Pajari.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta challenged for the rally lead on Friday morning after winning stage two before an impact on stage three resulted in the Japanese losing a wheel and retiring from the day.
The incident added to a difficult day for Toyota after title contender Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture on the opening stage and a turbo issue. The Welshman completed the afternoon with a repaired GR Yaris but ended the loop outside the points-paying positions, 9m55 adrift.
Saturday
Thierry Neuville successfully navigated through another brutal day at the Acropolis Rally to lead the World Rally Championship event into the final day.
The championship leader survived six rough gravel stages, without a service, to lead Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo by 54.9s, provisionally claiming the maximum 18 Saturday points.
Sordo took two points away from Neuville’s title rival Toyota’s Sebastian Ogier, who headed back to the service park in third [+1m19.9s], with 13 points, having continued his recovery from a turbo issue that cost him the lead on Friday night.
Neuville started the day in third position but inherited the lead, becoming the fourth leader of the rally, after team-mates Ott Tanak and Sordo suffered punctures.
Overnight leader Tanak witnessed his victory hopes vanish after stopping twice on the opening test of the day (stage seven, Rengini, 28.67km, to change punctured rear and front right tyres.
M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster held fifth before running into a ditch on stage nine, which handed the position to WRC2 class leader Sami Pajari [+5m07.3s], with Robert Virves in sixth [+5m35.1s].
The day’s remaining stages were not without drama as Takamoto Katsuta, returning from his Friday exit, spun and stalled his GR Yaris in stage 10 (Loutraki, 12.90km).
Evans clipped a rut which tipped his GR Yaris into a slow roll and was lucky spectators were on hand to push the car back on to its wheels. The incident was the latest drama for the Welshman, who had climbed from 30th to 13th after a puncture and turbo failure on Friday.
Sunday
Neuville held his nerve to take a crucial win at Greece after championship leader Seb Ogier crashed on the powerstage.
Sebastien Ogier who managed to leap ahead of Hyundai’s Dani Sordo [+1m23.3s], with Ott Tanak in fourth [+3m13.7s] rolled it halfway through the stage which what could prove to be a deciding moment in the championship fight.
Fortunately for him he managed to get the car back into service to complete the event and collect his 13 points from Saturdays run.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans rejoined the rally after retiring following a roll on Saturday afternoon, but roll cage damage to Gregoire Munster’s M-Sport Ford Puma put him out of the event.
There was drama in the WRC2 class as ninth-placed overall Georg Linnamae rolled his Toyota, but luckily he was able to continue.
This elevated Sami Pajari to take the lead in the WRC2 class which he would go on to win his third class win in a row.
In a jumbled up top 10 finish, Serderidis claimed 9th in the private backed Ford Puma with Evans finishing 10th.
