WRC
Ogier: Acropolis was “turning point” for 10th WRC title hopes
Sébastien Ogier says his EKO Acropolis Rally Greece victory was the result he “needed” to keep his 2026 FIA World Rally Championship title hopes alive.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver and co-driver Vincent Landais completed a perfect Sunday in Greece, winning the rally, Super Sunday and the Wolf Power Stage after a dramatic final-day fight with Thierry Neuville.
It was Ogier’s 69th WRC victory and his second Acropolis triumph, 15 years after his first, but the nine-time world champion admitted its championship significance made the result feel even more important.
“Well, yes, it was the perfect weekend in the end,” Ogier said. “Exactly the one we needed for our championship, and to bring us back into the game.
“Obviously, we are still many points behind, so we still need to perform much more than that. But arriving here, I knew it was really a turning point of the season.”
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Ogier, who is contesting a partial season, had already won Rally Islas Canarias earlier in the campaign, but a costly puncture while fighting for victory in Portugal left him chasing ground in the championship. Greece, with its rough roads, high attrition and unpredictable conditions, was always likely to offer the chance for a major swing.
“I knew that if it was not going our way this weekend, it would probably have been the end of the hope of fighting for the championship,” he explained. “So the pressure was high, but we tried our best.”
Ogier’s route to victory was anything but straightforward. Neuville led from Friday morning until Sunday’s opening Aghii Theodori stage, where Ogier moved ahead by 1.3sec. The pair then set identical times on Loutraki 1 before Neuville’s hopes were effectively ended by two rear punctures on the penultimate stage.
Ogier then completed the job in style, winning the final Wolf Power Stage despite insisting he had taken a cautious approach through the rally-ending Loutraki test.
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He credited both strategy and fortune for a result that had looked far from certain across three days of sharp rocks, loose sand and punishing Greek gravel.
“I think we had a good strategy the whole weekend, trying to stay out of trouble - but everybody is trying that,” Ogier said. “Obviously, here more than anywhere, it was very difficult to manage with the roughness.
“I’m glad that the Greek gods have been with me this time and that we made this very positive move.
“In a rally like this you also need to have the luck with you to win,” he continued. “The difference between a puncture and a delamination can be nothing. We had so many tyres with damage which didn’t really puncture, or things like this.
“I had my share of tough luck with that this year, losing Portugal, which was extremely costly in terms of points. This time, many others had issues, and Elfyn as well, which obviously cost him some good points.”
The win also added another chapter to Ogier’s long and sometimes complicated Acropolis history. Greece was the scene of his first WRC podium in 2009, and he won the event for Citroën in 2011. But the rally then spent several years away from the WRC calendar, and since its return Ogier has often shown speed without always getting the result.
“It started very well,” he reflected. “In 2009, I had my first podium. In 2011 we won. Then we only did it up to 2013, I think, and then it was finished for a while.
“In 2013, I was very fast with the Polo, but I had an electrical issue. In the last few years here, we have often had quite good speed, I would say, but not always the luck.
“Last year, finishing second from second on the road was a great performance. It is still a rally I have always liked.”
The final-day duel with Neuville carried echoes of many past battles between the two, but Ogier insisted he never allowed himself to get drawn into an all-or-nothing fight.
“It looked more intense than it really was, I would say, for us,” he said. “That is the reality, because I honestly focused mainly on myself and on my strategy. I didn’t want to go for all or nothing.
“I needed good points this weekend. Of course, the win was what we needed, but if it wasn’t going to be the win, second place with some good Sunday points would still have been a positive step.
“Coming here, I knew it was a turning point of the season where I really needed to finally outscore Elfyn.
“It is a really positive move for us.”
