Thierry Neuville extended his FIA WRC points lead after Acropolis Rally win in Hyundai 1-2-3 from Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak.
Friday –
Ott Tänak overtook a wounded Sébastien Ogier to lead EKO Acropolis Rally Greece on Friday evening, capping an eventful day that could significantly impact this year’s FIA World Rally Championship title race. Greece’s notoriously rugged gravel roads lived up to their punishing reputation, with four of the championship’s top-five drivers encountering trouble and dropping significant time. Tänak, however, piloted his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 through the chaos unscathed, topping a commanding Hyundai 1-2-3 overnight.
Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, who started this rally second in the points, was left 11.7sec clear of Tänak when M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux retired from second due to a broken steering arm on SS4. But disaster struck Ogier late in the day when a turbocharger issue cost the Frenchman around two-and-a-half minutes and relegated him to fourth.
Ogier’s misfortune compounded a disastrous day for Toyota. Team-mate Elfyn Evans dropped nearly nine minutes earlier in the day with a similar turbo issue, while Takamoto Katsuta retired on SS3 with rear suspension damage after mis-hearing a pacenote. In stark contrast, Hyundai celebrated as Tänak led i20 N Rally1 colleagues Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville by 21.8 and 45.2sec respectively. As it stands, the Korean marque is poised to extend its advantage in the manufacturers’ championship.
Sordo, making his first appearance since Rally Italia Sardegna in June, faced challenges of his own, managing a faulty hybrid unit throughout much of the afternoon. Championship leader Neuville also encountered issues, nursing an engine problem in the morning that left his car running on reduced power, but crucially headed Ogier by 1min 41.2sec overnight.
Elsewhere, M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster was forced to stop for a wheel change on SS6, allowing WRC2 frontrunners Robert Virves and Sami Pajari to climb to fifth and sixth overall. The pair also moved ahead of Yohan Rossel, who had dominated the WRC2 category in the morning before losing time due to a puncture. Munster ended the day seventh with Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Fabrizio Zaldivar and Nikolay Gryazin rounding out the top 10.
Saturday –
Thierry Neuville’s FIA World Rally Championship title hopes were bolstered on Saturday as he emerged from the carnage of another punishing day at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece with a commanding lead. The Belgian, who entered this penultimate day third, climbed to the top as his Hyundai i20 N team-mates Ott Tänak and Dani Sordo were both struck by misfortune in what has proven to be the season’s most brutal rally so far.
Tänak had led by 21.8sec after Friday’s gruelling leg, but Greece’s unforgiving terrain took its toll early on Saturday. Forced to stop twice within 10 kilometres to change wheels, the Estonian’s challenge fell apart as he dropped four minutes and plummeted to fourth. Sordo, making his first top-level appearance since June’s Rally Italia Sardegna, briefly inherited the lead. But, like so many before him, he was undone by the rugged Greek roads.
A collision with a rock caused a rear tyre blowout which cost around 50sec and tore away his advantage in an instant. But Neuville, whose Friday had been marred by a misfiring engine, managed to survive the carnage. Carefully pacing himself and conserving his Pirelli tyres, he steered clear of disaster to end the day with a lead of 54.9sec over Sordo.
Sébastien Ogier, Neuville’s closest championship challenger, clung to third, 1min 19.9sec adrift of the lead in his Toyota GR Yaris. With 18 points provisionally secured, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe are on course to extend their championship lead, which stood at 27 points over Ogier at the start of the rally.
Sordo’s blowout obliterated the rear bodywork on his Hyundai, and, with no midday service, he and co-driver Cándido Carrera were forced to patch up the car as best they could. The Spaniards even resorted to wearing ski goggles to keep the dust out as they fought to retain second place.
Ogier, who won three of the day’s six stages, could only reflect on what might have been. After leading early on Friday, his rally was derailed by a turbocharger failure that cost him more than two minutes. His Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans has fared far worse at this 10th round of the season; stricken by similar turbo issues on day one, the Welshman’s title hopes took a devastating blow when he rolled his car on SS11 and was forced to retire.
Tänak trailed Ogier by almost two minutes in fourth overall while M-Sport Ford Puma youngster Grégoire Munster’s crash on SS9 allowed WRC2 crews to fill out the remainder of the leaderboard. Sami Pajari overtook Robert Virves to claim the WRC2 lead as Yohan Rossel, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Georg Linnamäe and Fau Zaldivar rounded out the top 10.
Sunday –
Thierry Neuville moved a step closer to claiming his first FIA World Rally Championship title after winning a gruelling 2024 edition of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. The Belgian driver conquered the carnage-filled three-day fixture in Lamia to head-up a Hyundai Motorsport 1-2-3 finish ahead of i20 N colleagues Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak, with Neuville’s main title rival Sébastien Ogier suffering a dramatic roll on the Wolf Power Stage while on course to finish second overall.
Ogier was able to push his Toyota GR Yaris back onto its wheels and finish the rally, crucially securing the 15 points scored on Saturday night, but plummeted down the overall rally standings after dropping more than 20 minutes. The Frenchman had initially led early in the rally, but slipped behind when his car was crippled by a turbocharger failure on Friday afternoon.
Tänak and Dani Sordo also felt the wrath of the Acropolis, both suffering tyre damage on Saturday that dashed their own victory hopes and catapulted Neuville into the lead. Even Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe were not immune to the rally’s brutality. A misfiring engine plagued their Hyundai i20 N on the opening morning, but the pair managed to regroup and applied a sensible strategy, carefully balancing risk and reward to avoid further calamities on the treacherous tracks.
The result stretched Neuville’s lead in the drivers’ standings to 34 points over Tänak as Ogier fell to third, with 90 points still available from the remaining three rounds. In the manufacturers’ championship, Hyundai extended its advantage over Toyota to 35 points. With Ogier in trouble, Tänak collected 11 of a possible 12 points from Super Sunday. The Estonian also claimed his 50th WRC podium and now heads Ogier by four points in the drivers’ series.
Elfyn Evans’ title aspirations took a major hit when he rolled his Toyota late on Saturday, while M-Sport Ford duo Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster were also forced to rejoin under restart rules following their own incidents. The Acropolis proved so relentless that WRC2 drivers filled the remaining top 10 spots.
Sami Pajari not only clinched victory in the WRC2 category but also secured fourth place overall in his Rally2-spec Toyota. Pajari narrowly edged out Robert Virves, with both finishing level on time, but Pajari’s quicker SS1 time gave him the win on countback. Yohan Rossel, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Fau Zaldivar, Josh McErlean and Roberto Daprà rounded out the top 10, benefiting from the misfortunes of the top-tier drivers.
Result: https://www.wrc.com/live-timing?liveTimingMenu=overall_livetiming&stage=FINAL&championshipId=245
[Note: The story is as per press release]