Late triumph for world champion Ogier after Neuville’s puncture woes

Nine-time World Rally Champion Ogier secured his first victory at the Acropolis Rally since 2011. Throughout the rally, he was locked in a close battle with his rival Neuville, which was ultimately decided by Neuville’s double misfortune on the penultimate special stage.

Neuville had initially set the pace on Friday, but as Saturday’s special stages progressed, Ogier began to close the gap on the Belgian. Ogier took the lead on the first special stage on Sunday.

Weltmeister Ogier in Griechenland zum zweiten Saisonsieg

Foto: Red Bull

Two puncture setbacks during the second run through the Aghii Theodori special stage cost Neuville a minute and, with it, the chance to battle Ogier for victory right to the end.

“We’ve said it before: on some sections, it’s simply a matter of luck. We drove over a few stones. With these small stones, there’s not much you can do, of course,” commented the 2024 world champion on his mishap.

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Ogier’s performance on the final day was nonetheless outstanding: he dominated proceedings on the final day, also winning – much to his own surprise – the Power Stage, and led the standings on Sunday by a 28-second margin.

This result sees Ogier move up to third place in the provisional World Championship standings. The Frenchman is now 33 points behind leader Elfyn Evans, who now has a seven-point lead over Takamoto Katsuta.

Thierry Neuville kosteten zwei späte Reifwenschäden womöglich den Sieg

Foto: Red Bull

“At last, the Greek gods are on my side!” said a delighted Ogier at the finish, ending a 15-year wait for another victory in Greece. “It was a long weekend. We knew there was no time to relax until this Power Stage, which was so bumpy. I couldn’t go all out there and just drove as carefully as possible, feeling every stone. Now we’ve done it – a little revenge for the victory we lost in Portugal.”

At the finish, Neuville was gracious and praised Ogier’s performance. However, he also highlighted how competitive his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 had been.

“I’m torn between disappointment and, in a way, a bit of joy that we’ve got a car again that’s running well and that I feel comfortable in,” commented Neuville at the finish. “Hats off to Ogier; he’s also driven an incredible rally. It was very close. We don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t had any puncture problems.” “In Portugal, we benefited from Ogier’s tyre misfortune. Now it was the other way round. That’s just how it is in rallying.”

Takamoto Katsuta secured his fourth podium finish of the year with third place, despite having to start Friday’s stage as the second car, hampered by a road sweeper. His only problem during the rally had been a puncture on SS4. By Saturday morning, he had already overtaken the M-Sport Ford duo of Josh McErlean and Martins Sesks and was in fourth place.

In the Hyundai, Adrien Fourmaux was still in a promising third place on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, he had even briefly led the standings before a front-right puncture on the fourth special stage saw him drop back behind Neuville and Ogier.

Takamoto Katsuta sicherte sich den vierten Podestplatz der Saison

Foto: Red Bull

Fourmaux was in illustrious company: many drivers complained of punctures, as the tyres simply couldn’t always cope with the brutal conditions. On the twelfth special stage, the Frenchman suffered his second puncture and had to concede third place to Katsuta without a fight.

Meanwhile, Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford) celebrated the best World Rally Championship result of his career by finishing fourth. The Irishman even managed to recover from a late excursion into the undergrowth on the penultimate stage on Saturday.

In the end, he defended his position, crossing the finish line 6.7 seconds ahead of Toyota youngster Sami Pajari. Pajari himself had lost almost two minutes on SS5 due to a wheel change on the stage. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) had started the Acropolis Rally as the championship leader – with the unenviable task of having to clear the track on Friday.

The poor grip conditions promptly cost the Welshman over two minutes, which was only enough for seventh place after the opening stage. Although he managed to work his way up to fifth place at one stage, a puncture on SS13 set him back again. Another slow puncture on Sunday finally put a stop to his progress, leaving him with only seventh place overall.

Fourmaux had caught up with Katsuta in the battle for the final podium place and was the fastest on the first stage on Sunday, before the first of two punctures on Sunday set him back.

Adrian Fourmaux sieht Hyundai auf Schotter gut aufgestellt

Foto: Red Bull

“I really must thank the team, because we had a very good car to fight for the win,” explained Fourmaux. “We probably had the best car. I’m quite confident about our prospects on gravel. It’s just a shame what happened this weekend.”

His Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo was on course for eighth place, but was withdrawn from the race by his team ahead of the Power Stage due to technical problems.

As a result, Martiņs Sesks moved up one place. The part-time M-Sport Ford driver was no longer in contention for the overall classification, as he was unable to leave the service park until 19 minutes late on Saturday afternoon due to technical problems and incurred a 3.10-minute time penalty.

Monte Carlo Rally winner Oliver Solberg had a rally to forget. After an early puncture, he never really found his rhythm and also went off spectacularly on the seventh special stage. The Swede leaves Greece with a meagre haul of just a single Super Sunday point.

Jon Armstrong in Griechenland zum ersten WP-Sieg einer WM-Rallye

Foto: Red Bull

Ford driver Jon Armstrong finished in 21st place after being forced to retire on Friday due to a turbo problem and only returning to the race on Saturday. Nevertheless, he leaves the Acropolis Rally feeling satisfied, having set his first-ever fastest time on a World Rally Championship special stage.

Robert Virves claimed his second consecutive WRC2 victory of the season ahead of his Toksport Skoda team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen, who had lost the lead on Sunday morning following a tyre change stop. Toyota driver Alejandro Cachon finished in third place.