Thierry Neuville has taken the lead in the Acropolis Rally of Greece after a difficult Friday morning, marked by several punctures among the participants. The Hyundai driver finished the first gravel loop with an 11-second advantage over his rival, Sébastien Ogier, who competes with Toyota, and surpassed the impressive Jon Armstrong from M-Sport Ford, who is third at 21.2 seconds.
Ogier had maintained the lead overnight thanks to his victory in Thursday’s super special, but lost this advantage in Friday’s first stage. In a favorable start, Fourmaux set the best time in the opening test, beating Neuville by just 0.1 seconds, but that was not enough to maintain the position.
The standings changed abruptly when Fourmaux overtook Neuville in the third stage. Unfortunately, a puncture in the right front tire in the next test, the Stiri, cost him 31.4 seconds, relegating him from first to fourth place.
With this situation, Neuville regained the lead before the midday remote service. “The situation with the tires has been tight. I should have started with six new tires this morning, it would have been better. The terrain is incredibly tough,” Neuville commented after the loop.
Jon Armstrong was one of the standout drivers in the morning, achieving the third-best time in the test at Parnassos and matching Neuville’s times at Stiri, placing himself just 7.1 seconds behind Ogier. Armstrong explained that his strategy focused on gaining good traction on the track, which became more complicated towards the end of the stage.
Ogier, for his part, downplayed his open door, stating that the situation was a matter of luck. “Obviously, it’s pure luck, a lottery. The tires are not prepared for these conditions,” the Frenchman stated.
Despite the adversities, M-Sport has had a promising start with three vehicles in the top six, with Josh McErlean in fifth place and Martins Sesks in sixth, despite concerns over the tires. On the other hand, the championship leader, Elfyn Evans, has had a hard time, dropping to ninth place after opening the road, losing 1.18.6 seconds to the leaders.
Evans commented that the morning situation was worse than expected. “The road cleaning was horrific, with large rocks in the climbing corners. Despite everything, I did not do a good job,” he lamented.
Other drivers also faced problems, such as Oliver Solberg, who lost more than a minute due to a puncture in the left front tire, placing him in 14th position during the remote service. The competition in WRC2 is led by Andreas Mikkelsen, who leads Robert Virves by 1.5 seconds.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
