A Friday to forget for championship hopefuls Ogier and Evans.
Ott Tänak overtook a wounded Sébastien Ogier to lead EKO Acropolis Rally Greece on Friday evening, capping an eventful day that could significantly impact this year’s FIA World Rally Championship title race.
Greece’s notoriously rugged gravel roads lived up to their punishing reputation, with four of the championship’s top-five drivers encountering trouble and dropping significant time. Tänak, however, piloted his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 through the chaos unscathed, topping a commanding Hyundai 1-2-3 overnight.
Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, who started this rally second in the points, was left 11.7sec clear of Tänak when M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux retired from second due to a broken steering arm on SS4. But disaster struck Ogier late in the day when a turbocharger issue cost the Frenchman around two-and-a-half minutes and relegated him to fourth.
Ogier’s misfortune compounded a disastrous day for Toyota. Team-mate Elfyn Evans dropped nearly nine minutes earlier in the day with a similar turbo issue, while Takamoto Katsuta retired with rear suspension on SS3 damage after mis-hearing a pacenote.
Explaining the situation, Toyota technical director Tom Fowler said: “It looks like Séb has lost the boost pressure from the turbocharger. We had Elfyn’s car this morning with the same symptoms.
“It’s a huge disappointment because, clearly, it’s another rally after Finland where we have really strong performance in the car. In Finland we didn’t capitalise on that, and it looks like here, again, we’re not going to capitalise on the potential performance that both the car and the drivers have.”
In stark contrast, Hyundai celebrated as Tänak led i20 N Rally1 colleagues Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville by 21.8 and 45.2sec respectively. As it stands, the Korean marque is poised to extend its advantage in the manufacturers’ championship.
“We’ve got to be thankful for a trouble-free day. It’s been tough with the heat and the rough conditions,” said Tänak, who currently sits third in the drivers’ standings. “It’s been a great day for Hyundai, but we all know there’s more to come.”
Sordo, making his first appearance since Rally Italia Sardegna in June, faced challenges of his own, managing a faulty hybrid unit throughout much of the afternoon. Championship leader Neuville also encountered issues, nursing an engine problem in the morning that left his car running on reduced power, but crucially headed Ogier by 1min 41.2sec overnight.
Elsewhere, M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster was forced to stop for a wheel change on SS6, allowing WRC2 frontrunners Robert Virves and Sami Pajari to climb to fifth and sixth overall. The pair also moved ahead of Yohan Rossel, who had dominated the WRC2 category in the morning before losing time due to a puncture.
Munster ended the day seventh with Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Nikolay Gryazin and Rossel rounding out the top 10.
Saturday’s leg promises more challenges, with six stages covering 116.23km on the unforgiving roads south of Lamia.
Friday classification:
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N 1h 40m 16.9s
2. D Sordo / C Carrera ESP Hyundai i20 N +21.8s
3. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +45.2s
4. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2m 26.4s
5. R Virves / A Lesk EST Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +3m 10.9s
6. S Pajari / E Mälkönen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +3m 12.4s
