The first two special stages of the Acropolis Rally 2024, held in the early Italian morning today, immediately outlined a scenario that is certainly not definitive, but very clear as regards the drivers who aspire to win the Drivers’ world title.
The Toyotas, apparently, have dominated, winning both PS1, the 22.47-kilometre Ano Pavliani 1, and PS2, the 21.67-kilometre Dafni 1, with Sébastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta respectively, but at the top of the overall standings is a Hyundai: that of Ott Tanak.
The Estonian, author of two good times, had an average better result than the one who won the two tests and is now in the lead, but with a margin of only 2 tenths over Katsuta. The Japanese immediately began to exploit the excellent starting position to have a cleaner surface and capable of offering greater grip than the riders who went out to test before him, and this pays off.
However, the race is still in its infancy. It is no coincidence that the first four are covered by just 2″4 with Sébastien Ogier third at 1″4 from Tanak and an excellent Adrien Fourmaux fourth, 1 second behind his compatriot in third place.
From fifth position onwards the gaps become more consistent and for different reasons. Dani Sordo returned to the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 after several months and closes the Top 5, even if already more than 11 seconds behind the leader.
If Tanak and Ogier have started the Greek weekend in the best possible way, at least up to now, the same certainly cannot be said for Thierry Neuville and, above all, for Elfyn Evans. The leader of the World Championship is suffering from an engine problem that alternates moments of full power with worrying cuts that are causing him to lose a lot of ground. It should not be forgotten that also this weekend Neuville is forced to open all the tests of today due to his leadership of the World Championship and on a surface like the Greek one this is no small problem.
But things went worse for Evans. The Welshman was forced to replace a damaged wheel in SS1, losing over 2 minutes from the best. As if that wasn’t enough, in SS2, he was slowed down by an engine problem. His GR Yaris didn’t give him the power needed to tackle the tests and so he slipped to over 5 minutes from the best.
Gregoire Munster is also having trouble. In the second Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid, the Dutchman is dealing with a problem with the handbrake.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel leads the way with the Citroen C3 Rally2 with an already significant advantage over his rivals. Sami Pajari is second at 15.9 seconds behind him after having to deal with a puncture. Nikolay Gryazin, with the second Citroen C3 Rally2, is third at 6.3 seconds from the Finn from Toyota. Pierre-Louis Loubet is immediately out of the game due to an accident on SS1.
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