WRC
Ogier fastest as Acropolis begins in Athens
Sébastien Ogier made the fastest start to EKO Acropolis Rally Greece by winning Thursday evening’s opening EKO Super Special Stage in Athens.
The nine-time world champion set a benchmark time of 1min 38.2sec on the 1.86km asphalt test at The Ellinikon Sports Park, beating Hyundai rival Thierry Neuville by 1.1sec in their head-to-head run.
Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta was second-fastest overall, 1.0sec behind Ogier, after defeating championship leader Elfyn Evans by four tenths of a second in the final pairing of the evening. Neuville completed the top three, one tenth behind Katsuta.
A large crowd packed into the spectator-friendly venue as the rally began with a short, sharp showpiece before crews head onto Greece’s rough gravel roads on Friday morning.
“I think it’s nice to see a lot of people here watching us,” said Ogier. “Obviously, the real rally starts tomorrow. But being in Greece is already a pleasure. It’s such a historic rally.
“We know a tough challenge is waiting for us, but that is the case here. We’ll do everything to make our own luck this weekend because it’s going to play a big role in the result.”
Katsuta, who starts Friday second on the road, admitted patience will be key once the rally leaves Athens and heads for the mountains.
“I’m always ready,” he smiled. “This is going to be a challenging weekend, so we need to be patient.”
Neuville, who topped Thursday morning’s shakedown for Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, made a clean start to the event he won in 2022 and 2024. The Belgian is targeting a strong result as the championship begins its run of gravel rallies to the finish.
“It’s great to kick off another gravel rally,” Neuville said. “I have a good feeling in the car and I’m looking forward. We’re just trying to enjoy it and drive at our own pace. The rally isn’t over until the very last stage and the very last corner.”
Sami Pajari was fourth fastest, 1.2sec off Ogier’s pace, and shared the time with Oliver Solberg. Pajari briefly held the lead after beating Dani Sordo’s early benchmark, while Solberg edged M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong by 1.6sec.
“We’re trying once again to do the best we can,” said Pajari. “It’s so nice to see the crowd cheering. Tomorrow, and especially Saturday, will be super long days.”
Evans was sixth overall, 1.4sec from the lead, and immediately turned his attention to the rough gravel stages awaiting him as championship leader and first car on the road on Friday.
“Clearly it’s going to be a tough weekend,” Evans said. “It’s going to be rocky and quite rough. It’s difficult to find that balance, like usual, between being fast and looking after the car and the tyres, but that’s going to be the name of the game.”
Adrien Fourmaux placed seventh in the second Hyundai after beating Josh McErlean in their head-to-head, with Sordo eighth on his return to the team’s third i20 N Rally1.
Sordo opened his rally against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Cachón, who is contesting WRC2 in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Sordo won the heat by 2.5sec, although his time was only 0.4sec quicker than Yohan Rossel’s early WRC2 benchmark in the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2.
Armstrong, Yohan Rossel and Léo Rossel completed the top 11, while crews now face a Thursday night ferry transfer from Corinth to Itea before Friday’s opening gravel leg.
Six stages totalling 129.22km await on the longest day of the rally, beginning with Bauxites on Friday morning.
