Yes to Sébastien Ogier They tell him before starting the Acropolis Rally that after seven stages he would be third, just behind a Toyota driver and a Hyundai driver, he would surely not have signed. The chances of having a WRC title rival ahead were high and yet the Frenchman could not be in a more favorable position. Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak precede the FrenchAlthough that’s a lesser evil when you consider that Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville are offside. The fight for victory is thus intertwined with the resolution of the title in Greece.
A circumstance that began to be written as soon as the first two sections of the day were finished. Thierry Neuville accused of problems in the power steering and he was 24 minutes late to the SS4 departure control. His situation in competition did not improve and the Belgian lost almost another two more minutes at the end of the stage. In the meantime, joy was concentrated within Toyota with the scratch of Kalle Rovanperä and the calm that Sébastien Ogier could feel when seeing his two rivals for the title offside. Without pressure from Dani Sordo, the Acropolis Rally became a thing of three.
The second section of the afternoon loop, the fourth of the day, allowed a return to ‘normality’. Thierry Neuville managed to solve his problems and finished second in SS5, only behind Sébastien Ogier. The Toyota driver, fueled by the rally situation, had the best time to attack the second position of Ott Tänak. On one of the longest stretches of the day, Ogier was showing his speed again, even if in the SS6 everything turned around again. And it is that Ott Tänak took the scratch, first of his particular account in the rally, to regain second place.
At least this was the story to tell until the appearance of Pierre-Louis Loubet. The Frenchman had two slow punctures throughout the loop. No spare wheels and very worn tires, Loubet had a track start on the SS6 in which he damaged the steering of his Hyundai. Spectators ran to help the French driver and one of them climbed onto the left door frame of the Hyundai i20 WRC Coupé to exert a counterweight and that Pierre-Louis Loubet could reach the goal. Thierry Neuville was given back the time lost in this set and finally took the scratch.
This scratch became almost anecdotal given the situation of the rally and the championship, since it did not even alter the top positions. With six stages contested in Greece, Kalle Rovanperä leads with a 3.7sec lead over Ott Tänak. For his part, Sébastien Ogier is two tenths behind the Estonian, closing the provisional podium of the Acropolis Rally. Behind and in no man’s land, Dani Sordo occupies a comfortable fourth position that allows him to face the remaining two days of the rally with some peace of mind. Adrien Fourmaux is fifth and Gus Greensmith sixth, with an almost testimonial role.
The WRC2 category has also been written under a dramatic script, at least for two of the big favorites. If by morning Mads Ostberg was already out of the fight for victory, Oliver Solberg suffered a suspension problem in the afternoon. In this way, the duel in the silver class has turned into a battle of teammates. with Marquito Bulacia 5.4 seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen. The income he has is not much greater Chris Ingram on Kajetan Kajetanowicz in WRC3, since the difference is 10.4 seconds. As a result of their performance, the four drivers are in the ‘top 10’ of the rally.
Classification after SS6 of the 65th Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally continues this Saturday (07: 32h) with the dispute of the second stage of the event. Drivers and co-drivers will race 132.56 kilometers on the streets of Athens.