One twist after another, without interruption. A day and a half of racing at the Acropolis Rally and everything happened. On Special Stage 9, the 25.87-kilometer Aghii Theodori 1 that concluded the morning lap of the second stage, we witnessed yet another change of leadership in the Greek event.
Dani Sordo was significantly slowed down by the failure of the right rear tyre on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1. It remains to be seen whether the damage was caused by driver error or a puncture, but what is certain is that the Korean car number 6 suffered extensive bodywork damage on the right side.
Due to this inconvenience, Sordo lost 51″3 to Sébastien Ogier, winner of the special, but above all he had to give up the leadership of the general classification of the event to his teammate Thierry Neuville, now in the lead with 35″3 on his teammate and 1’25″2 on Ogier.
For Hyundai, paradoxically, this is the best possible situation in the pursuit of both titles, and moreover without applying any team order which, almost certainly, would have been imposed on Dani Sordo in an attempt to help Neuville, the leader of the Drivers’ World Championship.
For Sordo, however, it will be a very difficult afternoon, because in the three tests that remain at the end of this stage he will not be able to have his bodywork repaired. In fact, at midday there will be no Service, but only the Tyre Fitting Zone to choose the tyres for the afternoon lap.
Ogier, therefore, will try to push hard also in the remaining three tests to try to make a high-level comeback and gain second place. Currently, however, he is 49″9 behind Dani Sordo.
Another dramatic turn of events came early in the event, ending M-Sport’s hopes of a points finish. Gregoire Munster went off the road at kilometre 5.76 and was forced to retire. This came 24 hours after Adrien Fourmaux’s crash, which had robbed him of both a podium finish and a potential win in the event.
Sami Pajari ended the stage in first place in the WRC2 class, also thanks to the time achieved in SS9, where he managed to further distance Robert Virves, his main rival. The Finn now has a margin of 26.1 seconds on the first of his rivals.
The morning lap of the second stage of the Acropolis Rally ends here and now the drivers will be able to use the Tyre Fitting Zone to choose the tyres for the afternoon stages, but they will not have access to the mid-day Service. The afternoon lap will start with Special Stage 10, the 12.90-kilometre Loutraki. The first car will enter the stage at 14:46 Italian time.
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