It’s an open fight between Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville. If the second stage of the Acropolis Rally opened this morning in favor of the 8-time world champion, the PS8 of the Greek rally smiled again at the Belgian of Hyundai Motorsport.
In the 28.49 kilometer Karoutes 1 – the longest stage of the 2023 Acropolis – Neuville pulled the rabbit out of the hat. Former team principal Andrea Adamo has always said about him that he compares him to Houdini for his ability to pull off incredible times in certain circumstances and this is probably one of them.
The surface of the stage, perhaps for the first time this weekend, was completely dry, favoring Neuville due to the best possible starting position. But what was impressive was the gap inflicted on the opponents.
Sébastien Ogier, second in qualifying, had to take note of a 9.8″ delay from the Belgian, making him the only driver under 10 seconds behind the new leader of the Acropolis Rally. Yes, because thanks to this time Neuville is returned to the top of the general classification with a 2 second margin over Toyota Racing’s transalpine.
Behind the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 is a sequence of GR Yaris. Ogier, as mentioned, was the Belgian’s first pursuer, then Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta, all with notable gaps.
For other Hyundai drivers, PS8 was complex to say the least. Dani Sordo paid for the bad starting position, but still managed to climb into the Top 5 in the general classification by taking advantage of an unfortunate episode involving his teammate Esapekka Lappi.
About halfway through the test, the Finn found a large stone in his path and was unable to dodge it. Fortunately for him, the rock only caused damage to one tire, and not to the car. Once the damaged wheel was replaced, Lappi managed to continue his race, but lost more than 2 minutes from the best time set by Neuville.
Now Lappi is seventh in the general classification, also surpassed by Takamoto Katsuta. However, he can still boast a margin of 41″1 over Ott Tanak, who follows him from eighth position with just one test remaining at the end of today’s morning lap.
WRC 2023 – Acropoli Rally – Ranking after SS8
Pos | Pilot/navigator | Car | Time/detachment | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Neuville/Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 1h32’09”3 | |
2 | Ogier/Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +2″0 | |
3 | Rovanpera/Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +25″2 | |
4 | Evans/Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +42″1 | |
5 | Sordo/Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +1’34″4 | |
6 | Katsuta/Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +1’39″5 | |
7 | Lappi/Ferm | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +3’31″8 | |
8 | Tanak/Jarveoja | Ford Puma Rally1 | +4’12″9 | +3’40” |
9 | Rossel/Dunand | Citroen C3 Rally2 | +5’30″8 | |
10 | Bulacia/Vallejo | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +5’34″0 |
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