Ogier triumphs in gruelling Greek epic

Sébastien Ogier triumphed for Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT) on a decisive final day of the Acropolis Rally in Greece on Sunday (28 June). 

The legendary rally lived up to its reputation this year with temperatures above 30°C combining with rough and rocky roads to test tyres, cars and drivers alike. TGR-WRT faced a challenging start with their five drivers starting in the first five places, courtesy of their leading championship positions. This meant they had to sweep an early line through the loose gravel which their rivals would follow. 

Nine-time World Champion Ogier had the best starting position in the team in fifth on the road and he made the most of it to finish Friday’s opening day within 10 seconds of the lead. By the close on Saturday, he had narrowed the gap to leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) to just 4.1 seconds. 

Ogier seized the rally lead with the fastest time in Sunday’s opening stage, before he and Neuville then shared the best time in the following test. The penultimate stage proved decisive, with another strong stage win from Ogier combined with tyre damage for Neuville creating a gap of 54.8 seconds ahead of the rally-ending Power Stage.  

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There, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais were fastest once more as they secured victory by 58.3 seconds, and a maximum score of 35 points through topping the Power Stage and Super Sunday classifications. The victory is the 69 ^th of Ogier’s career and his second Acropolis win, 15 years after his first.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston secured a double podium finish for the team in third overall after a strong and consistent performance. Running second on the road on Friday, he avoided major trouble while also showing good pace as he climbed up from ninth on the leaderboard.

After the rally’s conclusion, Josh McErlean (Ford) and Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) were both given one-minute penalties. As a result, Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, who were initially classified fifth overall, were placed fourth. They had made a strong recovery from 15 ^th after stopping to change a wheel and tyre on Friday afternoon. They also took second in the Power Stage and Super Sunday.

Likewise, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin moved up the order to fifth. They faced the toughest conditions opening the road on Friday as championship leaders, but were also fighting back well and closing on fourth overall until a tyre change in Saturday’s last stage. Evans’s hopes of recovering points on Sunday were hampered by a slow loss of tyre pressure in the morning’s opener, but with fifth overall and fifth in the Power Stage he remains championship leader, eleven points ahead of Katsuta and 37 ahead of Ogier. TGR-WRT continue to lead the manufacturers’ standings, increasing their lead to 146 points.

Oliver Solberg retired from Friday’s final stage when he ran wide and got stuck on the edge of the road, but restarted on Saturday and took one point for fifth in Super Sunday.

TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto demonstrated strong pace in the competitive WRC2 category, setting several top five stage times throughout the weekend, and culminating in a maiden Power Stage victory, even though time lost to punctures meant he finished 10 ^th in the class. Fellow GR Yaris Rally2 drivers Alejandro Cachón, Roope Korhonen and Diego Domínguez finished third, fourth and fifth in class respectively.