WRC
Neuville on top after punishing Friday for Acropolis rivals
Thierry Neuville led EKO Acropolis Rally Greece after a punishing Friday that immediately underlined the rally’s fearsome reputation.
The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver completed the opening full day 9.7sec clear of Sébastien Ogier, with team-mate Adrien Fourmaux third after an eventful leg in which he both led the rally and lost time to a puncture.
The longest day of the rally, totalling 129.22km, brought heavy road cleaning, sharp rocks and constant risk across six gravel stages north of Loutraki. Few crews escaped the day without drama, but Neuville’s measured approach proved enough to keep him in front overnight.
“It is always nice to lead but it doesn’t mean anything to us at the moment as the rally is very long,” Neuville said. “Tomorrow will be very tough for the car and the tyres.”
Neuville moved into the lead on SS4, Stiri, after Fourmaux reached the finish with a front-right puncture. The Belgian reported a lack of balance after losing his front splitter but managed the afternoon well.
“It was quite close at the end,” he said after the first pass of Stiri. “It’s incredibly rough out there. I was struggling quite a lot in here with the fast sections, we are missing the front splitter so the aerodynamic balance is off.”
Ogier was never far away. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver won SS4 and remained Neuville’s closest challenger throughout the afternoon, but the nine-time world champion insisted his focus was on avoiding trouble rather than forcing the pace.
“It’s been a good day for us, I can be happy with that,” Ogier said after the final stage. “At the moment I just focus on myself and stay out of trouble.”
© WRC
Fourmaux provided much of the day’s early speed. He won Bauxites by 0.1sec from Neuville, then delivered a stunning time on Parnassos Mt to move into the rally lead. The Acropolis bit back on the following stage, however, when a puncture dropped him to fourth.
The Frenchman recovered strongly in the afternoon, winning the final Thiva stage to climb back to third overall, 42.4sec behind Neuville.
Behind the leading trio, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team experienced both the highs and lows of Acropolis in quick succession.
Jon Armstrong starred on the morning loop, climbing as high as third overall before claiming his maiden WRC stage win on Elikon Mt. The Northern Irishman beat Ogier by 0.6sec on SS5, only for his day to unravel on the next stage when he suffered a front-right puncture and then a loss of power.
Armstrong eventually retired from the day’s action after losing more than four minutes on Stiri 2.
“I don’t know, simultaneously we had a front-right puncture and then lost all power,” he said.
© WRC
Team-mate Josh McErlean made it through the chaos to hold fourth overnight, 1min 10.1sec off the lead, with Mārtiņš Sesks completing a strong day for M-Sport in fifth.
“It is a nice position to be in,” McErlean said. “It has been a solid day and we tried to stay out of trouble as much as possible. The biggest thing was to try and get some sort of road position for tomorrow and I think that has been achieved.”
Sesks was 6.8sec behind McErlean in fifth, with Takamoto Katsuta sixth for Toyota after a difficult day of risk management on the rocky Greek roads.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans endured a tough Friday opening the road and ended the leg seventh, 2min 08.4sec down. The Welshman struggled for traction throughout the day as loose gravel and large rocks made first on the road especially punishing.
© WRC
“We knew it was going to be tough and it was even more tough than expected,” Evans said. “I tried to push a bit more [on the final stage]. It was a more forgiving surface in here, but it doesn’t feel like we are going anywhere.”
Dani Sordo was eighth after losing almost two minutes to a wheel change on Parnassos Mt, while Andreas Mikkelsen held ninth overall and the WRC2 lead after a day-long fight with Robert Virves. The Norwegian ended Friday 8.2sec ahead of Virves in class, with Alejandro Cachón third among the Rally2 runners.
Sami Pajari completed the top 10 after a difficult day that included a puncture and a brief loss of power, while Oliver Solberg’s Friday ended on the final stage when he ran wide and beached his GR Yaris Rally1 at the 6.5km mark.
Saturday takes crews into the Peloponnese for another demanding leg featuring Ghymno, Kolines, Menalo Mt and Kefalari.
