Acropolis Rally – Winner Neuville takes a step towards the title

• The rallies go by, and Thierry Neuville is getting closer to his first world title. In Greece this Sunday, the Belgian won his second victory of the season, the first since Monte-Carlo last January. Above all, he took advantage of the setbacks of Sébastien Ogier, affected by mechanical problems since Friday, to enjoy a relatively quiet weekend.
• With his toughest rival out of the race for victory, Thierry Neuville then managed. Leading with his three i20s in front, Hyundai was then able to play strategically, with no one really attacking the leader of the pack. So, when Dani Sordo suffered a puncture during SS9, Neuville calmly took back the lead of this Acropolis Rally and never relinquished it again.
• From there, it was a matter of managing for the championship leader, forcing his rivals to push and take risks to try to destabilize him. But there was no destabilization. With a lead of more than a minute, Thierry Neuville was content to ensure at the end of the day on Saturday to try to pick up a few points during the Super Sunday. But this took a completely different turn when Sébastien Ogier made a mistake less than two kilometers after the start of the Power Stage. On the verge of taking the 7 points at stake, the Gapençais lost everything, leaving the way clear for Thierry Hyundai to win and get a little closer to the title. For its part, Hyundai scored a hat-trick with 2nd and 3rd places for Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak.

• Note the beautiful final touch for Adrien Fourmaux who set the best time of the Power Stage, pocketing 5 additional points in addition to the 6 from Super Sunday.
• In the championship, Thierry Neuville has had an excellent run since he now has a 34-point lead over his runner-up who is no longer Sébastien Ogier but Ott Tänak. The eight-time world champion has fallen back to 3rd place, 38 points behind the leader after his mishap on the last special.
• In WRC2, Sami Pajari had a very close call! Starting with a 28.5″ lead over Robert Virves, his pursuer in the general classification of the category, the Finn arrived with the same delay on the finish line of the Power Stage. The fault was a puncture that made him lose a lot of time. If in the general classification, the Finn and the Estonian finished with the same total time, it was the former who secured the victory. All thanks to the time set during SS1 where he had beaten Virves. Yohan Rossel completed the podium of WRC2. This victory allows Sami Pajari to come back to 3 points from the leader Oliver Solberg. Yohan Rossel is third, 25 points behind.

The complete classification of the Acropolis Rally

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